Broadcast Deliverables Checklist
Updated
Everything that goes out with a TV master: textless, M&E, stems, captions, the PSE test and QC, with track layouts and rules from the UK DPP spec, PBS Distribution and the streamers.
Whose Spec This Is
Every broadcaster and distributor publishes its own delivery requirements, and the commission or contract names the version that applies. This checklist draws on the ones you can read publicly in October 2026:
- • The UK DPP file spec agreed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and others, in the edition Channel 4 publishes (v5.2, 2022). The DPP's own version 7.0 (November 2024) needs an email sign-up to download, so check it for later changes.
- • PBS Distribution's technical specifications (October 2025). PBS's broadcast Technical Operating Specification sits behind a login, which the PBS Red Book points producers to.
- • Discovery's textless guide, and the Netflix and Amazon specs where they define a deliverable
For the signal side of broadcast (formats, legal levels, safe areas, drop frame), see Broadcast TV Specs.
The Deliverables List
- Texted master
- The finished program with all titles, lower thirds, captions burned in only where the spec allows, and the broadcaster's required leader (line-up, clock).
- Textless
- The shots that carry text, clean, so a distributor can re-title in another language. Either clean cover shots or a full textless master; see below.
- M&E
- Music and effects without dialogue, fully filled, for dubbing. Stereo and 5.1 where the mix exists.
- Stems or splits
- Dialogue, music, effects (and narration) as separate tracks or files that sum to the mix.
- Audio description
- A described mix (AD, DVS) for blind and partially sighted viewers, where commissioned.
- Captions and subtitles
- A separate file per broadcaster, in the format it names. PBS Distribution, for one, takes SCC only.
- PSE certificate
- UK: a PDF pass report from a file-based photosensitive epilepsy test, with every program.
- QC report
- From an automated QC tool and a full watch-down. Some distributors ask for the report itself.
- Trailers and promos
- Distributors such as PBS Distribution require at least one cleared 30-second promo and a 1-to-3-minute trailer, each with captions, textless and split audio.
- Paperwork
- Music cue sheets, dialogue or as-broadcast lists, credits and clearances. The distribution deliverables guide covers these.
Textless: Clean Covers or a Full Master
The word means the same thing everywhere, but where the textless material goes does not. Two buyers can want opposite things:
| Who | What they ask for |
|---|---|
| Discovery (2021 guide) | Clean cover shots or a full textless master, as separate files, never attached to the program. Each cover runs cut to cut, graded to match, with two seconds of black between covers. |
| PBS Distribution (Oct 2025) | A full textless master: lower thirds, burned-in subtitles, credits, opening titles and location IDs removed. Texted opens and credits follow the main program after two seconds of black. |
| UK DPP (Channel 4 edition) | Textless or other material may follow the program in the same file, starting no sooner than one minute after it; the AS-11 metadata flags whether textless elements exist. |
| Amazon Prime Video | The opposite: strip any textless material appended after the program before delivery. Textless goes as its own delivery where asked for. |
| Netflix | A supplemental IMF package that swaps textless inserts, cut to cut, into the last approved texted version. |
Audio: Track Layouts, M&E and Stems
A file master carries its audio in fixed channel positions, and QC checks them. Two published layouts for a 5.1 program with stereo:
| Channels | UK DPP, R123:16c (5.1 with M&E) | PBS Distribution (5.1 + 2.0) |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Stereo final mix L, R | Front L, R (5.1) |
| 3–4 | Stereo M&E L, R | Center, LFE (5.1) |
| 5–6 | 5.1 final mix L, R | Surround Ls, Rs (5.1) |
| 7–8 | 5.1 final mix C, LFE | Stereo full mix L, R |
| 9–10 | 5.1 final mix Ls, Rs | DME (undipped, no narration) L, R |
| 11–16 | 5.1 M&E L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs | — |
- • M&E must be fully filled: Netflix asks for long-play discrete channels at the original mix's levels, with ambiences and Foley fill where dialogue was removed, so a dub needs nothing else.
- • Stems and splits: PBS Distribution wants separate WAVs of the 5.1 and stereo mixes, an undipped DME without narration, and dialogue, music, effects and narration on their own; a program with no narration needs an M&E. Netflix wants 5.1 dialogue, music and effects stems that sum to the mix.
- • Amazon is the exception again: only full program mixes in the mezzanine, no M&E or MOS tracks.
- • Format: 48 kHz, 24-bit PCM in every spec here.
Sources: UK DPP / Channel 4 v5.2, PBS Distribution, Netflix M&E guidelines
Loudness by Spec
| Spec | Target | True peak | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK DPP | −23.0 LUFS ±0.5 LU (live ±1.0) | Fails above −1 dBTP; −3 dBTP recommended | EBU R 128 |
| PBS Distribution | −24 LKFS ±2 LU, dialogue | −2 dBTP | ATSC A/85 |
| Netflix | −27 LKFS ±2 LU, dialogue-gated | −2 dBTP | BS.1770-1 |
Measure the way each spec does: the UK and EBU meter the whole mix, the US specs and Netflix meter dialogue. Every published target, with its measurement method, is in the loudness standards table, and the loudness specs cheat sheet puts them on one printable page.
Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE) Testing
UK broadcasters require every file program to be tested with a file-based PSE analyzer and the PDF pass report delivered with it; the DPP spec says any failure means rejection. Netflix says only its original animated and anime productions require PSE testing at present, with select live-action titles flagged for testing, and results submitted to Netflix pass or fail. The thresholds come from ITU-R BT.1702-3:
- • A flash is a pair of opposing changes of 20 cd/m² or more where the darker image is below 160 cd/m²; a change to or from saturated red counts too
- • Not allowed: more than three flashes in any one second when the flashing covers more than 25% of the screen
- • Flashes whose leading edges are at least 360 ms apart (50 Hz) or 334 ms apart (60 Hz) are acceptable
- • Regular patterns of more than five light-dark stripe pairs are a risk above 40% of the screen when still, or 25% when moving
Sources: ITU-R BT.1702-3, UK DPP / Channel 4 v5.2, Netflix PSE test submission. Fast cutting and strobing in music and action sequences are the usual failures; test before the online is locked.
File Layout and Timings
Broadcast files still carry a leader. In the UK DPP layout the order is line-up, ident clock, program (in parts if it has breaks), a freeze or "living hold" and black, then any textless material. The rules that get files rejected:
- • A moving clock with a countdown of at least 7 seconds, no tone or ident audio over it
- • The living hold runs a further 5 seconds after each part's end point
- • Material after the program starts at least one minute after it ends
- • Part durations and the total are declared in the AS-11 metadata, so they must match the file to the frame
Work out part durations and offsets on frame counts in the Timecode Calculator, which handles 29.97 drop-frame, or in the free timecode converter in your browser. If a cut runs over its slot, Target Length gives the exact retime that fits it.
QC Before It Leaves
Run an automated QC pass and watch the whole program; the tools catch levels, gamut, black frames and file structure, people catch sync slips, missing effects and wrong shots. Amazon names Interra Baton, Telestream Aurora and Vidchecker, and Venera Pulsar as tools it suggests; PBS Distribution asks for full QC with the reports sent to your contact.
- • Loudness and true peak on every mix, including the stereo fold-down
- • Channel order against the layout, and M&E checked for dialogue left in
- • Video levels and gamut, measured as in EBU R 103
- • Captions in sync and in position, with nothing covering on-screen text
- • Textless covers matching the texted shots frame for frame and in grade
Broadcast Delivery Checklist
- Get the broadcaster's spec version in writing with the commission
- Plan the textless method (covers or full master) and where it sits in the file
- Lay out audio channels exactly as the spec's table; label the layout in the metadata
- Deliver fully filled M&E and the stems the contract lists
- Mix to the spec's loudness and peak, measured with the spec's method
- Pass a PSE test and keep the certificate
- Check clock, part durations and leader against the layout
- Run QC, watch it down, fix, and send the reports with the files
Selling the film beyond broadcast? The distribution deliverables guide covers the paperwork, E&O and the rest of a sales agent's list.
Questions
What are textless elements?
Clean versions of the shots that carry on-screen text, so a distributor can re-title in another language: either clean cover shots, each running cut to cut, or a full textless master. Where they go varies: PBS Distribution wants texted elements after the textless master, while Amazon wants appended textless material stripped from the main file.
What is an M&E track?
A music and effects mix with no dialogue, used for dubbing. It must be fully filled, with ambiences and Foley replacing whatever was lost when the dialogue was removed, so a dub needs nothing else.
What audio track layout does UK broadcast use?
For a 5.1 program with M&E, the UK DPP layout R123:16c puts the stereo mix on channels 1 and 2, the stereo M&E on 3 and 4, the 5.1 mix on 5 to 10 and the 5.1 M&E on 11 to 16.
What is a PSE test?
A photosensitive epilepsy test checks for flashing and patterns that can trigger seizures, against the ITU-R BT.1702 thresholds. UK broadcasters require a PDF pass report with every program. Netflix requires testing for its original animated and anime productions.
What loudness do UK and US broadcasters require?
The UK DPP spec asks for −23.0 LUFS ±0.5 LU for non-live programs and fails anything above −1 dBTP. PBS asks for −24 LKFS ±2 LU measured on dialogue, with true peaks no higher than −2 dBTP.