TV NEWS SCRIPT FORMAT

While writing TV news script, we follow a particular format. In this format, it is easy for the
news reader to read as well as the editor to edit. We create three columns. The first column is
time duration of each part of the story. It is measured in seconds. The second part describes the
visuals. It tells us what kind of shots are there, what images are being shown on the screen, etc.
The third column is for the narration/voice-over. This is the part which is actually written by the
script writer. The video editor will place the visuals in accordance with it, the news anchor will
read it on-screen, the Voice Over artist will record his part, etc.

Any TV script can be broken down into a few parts:

1. The Anchor piece/ Anchor lead: the beginning of the story where the anchor/newscaster
introduces the story to the audience. It is usually the 5Ws and 1H and follows the
inverted pyramid pattern. We see the news caster sitting in front of the camera and giving
out the lead of the story.

2. The Capsule: Once the anchor lead is over, the capsule starts. It is an audio-visual
presentation on the story. This is the piece which is edited by the video editor. The
visuals given by the videographer, the information given by the reporter, the interviews,
the bytes, are all put together. A voice artist records the voice-over and finally a good
package is created. This package is known as the Capsule. It usually starts with a lead,
followed by its description, interviews, reactions, backgrounds, etc. There are
corresponding visuals. The last part of the capsule is the PTC (piece to camera). Though
it stays inside the capsule, but we treat it as a separate unit, because of its importance. It
is described below.

3. The PTC: Piece to Camera - This is the ending of a news story. Here the journalist
himself/herself appears before the camera with a mic in hand, standing right at the place
of reporting. It is a way of identifying the people involved in reporting as well as
acknowledging their effort. The PTC usually has 2 parts: the Wrap-Up and the Sign-Off.
Wrap-up is the part where the journalist concludes the whole story in just a few lines.
He/she describes the whole incident very briefly. Sign-off is the part where he/she
identifies him/herself, the cameraperson, the channel and the place of reporting.

Moreover in TV as well as Radio news, the time duration becomes extremely important. The
scriptwriter must write a script which is as long as much as the available time. For this purpose,
we assume that 3 words are spoken in average in 1 second. Hence, if a script has to be written for
1 minute (i.e, 60 seconds), then 3X60=180 words should be written for it. Similarly, if a script
needs to be 2 minutes (i.e. 120 seconds) long, then 3X120=360 words should be written.

Here is an example of a TV news script.

TC VISUAL AUDIO
00:00 – MS - Newscaster Anchor Piece:
00:45 In a recent development Rajasthan chief minister Ashok
(seconds) Gehlot on Thursday urged PM Narendra Modi to restart
the sanctioned and stalled railway projects of the state
on priority. He said the majority, around 42% of the
New Rewari-New Madar section of the Western
Dedicated Freight Corridor commonly referred to as
the WDFC crosses Rajasthan for Gujarat. Mr. Gehlot
said projects such as Sarmathura-Gangapur via the
Karauli railway line was inaugurated but closed later;
the Pushkar-Medta road railway line, and Chauth ka
Barwada to Ajmer via Tonk railway line work too have
been stalled. Here is a full report on the developing
story.

CAPSULE BEGINS
00:45 – Mr. Asok Ghelot leading VOICE OVER
01:00 long rallies on the streets
Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Ghelot is not only
of Jaipur. known as a big shot of the Congress party, but he is a
person who has always been projected as a front lead
Mr. Ghelot entering the when it comes to opposing the centre. This time, once
secretariat again Mr. Ghelot has expressed his concern over some
central projects. The issue under contest is the railways.
The rajasthan CM has urged the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to start the stalled projects on top
priority.
[Pause]
01:00 – General shot of Trains According to Mr. Ghelot, around 42% of the New
01:10 passing by. Rewari-New Madar section of the Western Dedicated
Freight Corridor (WDFC) crosses Rajasthan for
General view of Bhiwadi. Gujarat. He says that the rajasthan State Government
has demanded that a railway station should be made in
Bhiwadi town as it has a Japanese investment zone, the
first-of-its-kind in India, with around 6521 industrial
units.
[pause]
01:10 – Mr. Ashoke Ghelot Speaking about the virtual inauguration of WDFC by
01:30 addressing rallies PM Modi, the Rajasthan CM said that a number of
projects of Rajasthan, which were sanctioned and had
been started are stalled due to some reasons. The PM
 should take them up on priority and restart the projects,
the CM stated.
[pause]
01:30 – Construction images of He further added that projects such as Sarmathura-
02:00 the Sarmathura gangapur Gangapur via the Karauli railway line was inaugurated
project. but closed later; the Pushkar-Medta road railway line,
and Chauth ka Barwada to Ajmer via Tonk railway line
work too have been stalled. According to him The state
had 50% partnership in the Banswar-Dungarpur-Ratlam
project, benefitting the tribal area adjoining Gujarat. He
stated that the state had given around Rs 250 crore and
the work had started but later due to some reasons it
was stalled.
[pause].
02:00 – Byte of Ashoke Ghelot – Byte of Ashoke Ghelot
02:20 MS of Ashoke Ghelot “Oil and Gas is there in Jaisalmer and Barmer – the
country’s 20% oil is supplied from Barmer. Now the
refinery work has also started. The demand for a rail
line to connect the Mundra-Kandla port with Jaisalmer-
Barmer is there for the last 40 years, which is justified
looking to the future. Looking into such a situation I
urge the Centre to resume the work on priority but as
the state isn’t in a sound position, the entire expenditure
now has to be borne by the Railways,”
02:20 – Loharu Sikar Reengus The CM added that the gauge conversion of the Loharu-
02:30 track Sikar-Reengus rail line had been done but the operation
of trains has not started yet.
02:30 – PTC by Journalist Vivek PTC
03:00 Gupta With the Congress party desperately trying to get back
its foothold in the national political map, senior and big
shot leaders like Ashoke Ghelot is always a proffered
choice to make a move. This time the veteran captain
has taken on the country’s top leadership and the issue
under question is a high profile railway project.
Welcoming the PM’s move of giving a major part of the
WDFC to Rajasthan, the CM said the state is committed
to the cause but how the Delhi–Mumbai industrial
corridor will be made and developed along the Delhi-
Mumbai Freight Corridor continues to remain a big
challenge. With cameraperson Bipin Rajwara, this is
Vivek Gupta, reporting for Times Now, Jaipur.

Lets have another example. First lets us see, what information have our reporter sent to us from
the spot of coverage:
Available information:

1. BJP-JDU alliance has won Bihar assembly election.

2. It took more than 14 hours of counting. The result was declared last night at 2:57 am and
also published in the election commission’s website.

3. BJP has won 74 of 243 seats. Nitish Kumar’s JDU has won 43 seats. Clearly he is at a
disadvantage, when compared to BJP.

4. Hence the question that is doing rounds is whether he will be made the CM or will there
be somebody from the BJP who will get the post as BJP has secured much more seats
than the JDU

5. However BJP has clearly mentioned that it will be Mr. Kumar who is going to be the
CM. It is because that is what the election manifesto had stated and it was because of the
image of Nitish Kumar that people have voted for the BJP-JDU alliance.

6. Experts are of the opinion that since Nitish Kumar will be the CM with BJP’s support,
the balance of power will not be in his control. He will have to heavily depend on BJP for
governance.

Now let us see, what bytes have our reporter sent us.

Available Bites:

Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP

PTC is also available.

Now, based on the given information, let us form a news script of 3 minutes in the correct
format. Please note, that the amount of information is small, hence we may have to add our own
information or expand some of the situations with some adjectives and descriptive lines to meet
the time duration.

A TV news script for 3 minutes.

TC VISUAL AUDIO
00:00 – MS - Newscaster Anchor Piece:
00:45 The Battle for Bihar has finally come to an end with the
(seconds) NDA-JDU alliance winning a clear majority mark. BJP
has secured a whooping 74 of 243 seats. The results
were declared last night by the Election Commission
although it was clear well before it, that the NDA was
clearly on its way in forming Government. However the
question which is now doing the rounds is whether
Nitish Kumar will come back to the throne as the Chief
Minister, because his party, the JDU has got restricted
to 43 seats only. However it has been categorically
mentioned by various BJP leaders that it will be Mr.
Nitish Kumar who will be made the Chief Minister,
because that had been in the election manifesto and it
was for Mr. Nitish Kumar’s clean image that the people
have voted for the NDA-JDU alliance.
CAPSULE BEGINS
00:45 – Collage of Footages of VOICE OVER
01:00 political rallies Anticipations, dialogues, heated clashes and political
rallies. That was the Bihar battle ground for the last
three months. The battle has finally come to an end.
People have given their mandate.
[Pause]
01:00 – NDA leaders celebrating After more than 14 hours of counting, the BJP-led
01:10 the victory with their party National Democratic Alliance was announced as the
workers. winner of the Bihar Assembly election in the early
hours of Wednesday morning.
[pause]
01:10 – Election commission Boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's several
01:30 agents counting the votes rallies, the NDA hit the majority mark of 122 at 2.57
AM. According to data on the Election Commission's
website, the BJP won 74 seats to emerge as the senior
member in its alliance with Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar's JDU, which managed just 43
[pause]
01:30 – Nitish Kumar shaking With Nitish Kumar losing Big Brother status in Bihar
02:00 hand with leaders of BJP. and the BJP gaining an upper hand for the first time in
the state where it has never had a Chief Minister, there
have been questions about who is going to be the next
Chief Minister. However the BJP categorically
mentioned that it will be none but Mr. Kumar who will
be the next CM for Bihar.
[pause].
02:00 – Byte of Sushil Kumar Byte of Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP
02:10 Modi of BJP "Nitishji will remain Chief Minister as it was our
commitment. There is no confusion on this. Some win
more and some win less, but we are equal partners."
02:10 – BJP and JDU rally on the The BJP has never ruled Bihar on its own and could not
02:30 streets have retained power in the state without Nitish Kumar.
But the results give the BJP leverage. Sources say in
Nitish Kumar's fourth term, the balance of power is
likely to be different.
02:30 – PTC by Journalist Tarun PTC
03:00 Virdi Over the last few weeks, a fierce campaign saw Prime
Minister Narendra Modi - the NDA'S de-facto face-
seeking votes for Nitish Kumar. The BJP-JDU combine
has been targeted by opposition over issues such as
unemployment and the handling of the covid 19
pandemic. Now with the results out, all eyes are on Mr.
Nitish Kumar. The question is, whether he will be able
to keep his promises. That, the time will answer. With
cameraperson Sanjay Sinha, this is Tarun Virdi,
reporting for NDTV, Bihar.