The most common question before a first booking, and the one people most often get wrong in both directions. Book too little and you are rushing the part that matters. Book too much and you are paying for a room while you decide what to say.
Start from what has to happen inside the booking
Your booked time is not recording time. It covers arrival, getting settled, any adjustment to the setup, the recording itself, breaks, and packing up at the end. That is true here and at most studios worth using, so plan against the whole block rather than the conversation.
Rough shapes that work
- One solo episode, 20 to 30 minutes of audio. Book two hours. You will use about 40 minutes of it recording and be glad of the rest.
- One interview with a guest. Two to three hours. Guests need settling time, and the first ten minutes are rarely the ten you keep.
- Two or three episodes, same day. Four hours. The setup is already right, so each additional episode costs far less time than the first.
- A batch of four or more. Eight hours, which also picks up the nine percent discount.
The mistake that costs the most
Booking exactly the length of the episode. A 60 minute episode is never a 60 minute booking, because nobody talks perfectly for an hour straight and you will want the option to redo an opening.
If you run over
Overtime is billed in 15 minute increments at 25 percent of the hourly rate, and it depends on whether the room is free afterwards. It is not something to rely on, which is the honest reason to book the extra hour up front instead.
Still not sure? Say what you are making when you enquire and we will tell you what it usually takes. More detail on the tiers is on the services page.
A worked timeline for a typical session
Here is where two hours actually goes when you book a single interview episode.
- 0:00 to 0:15 Arrive, settle, coffee, your guest stops being nervous.
- 0:15 to 0:30 Seating and microphone position for the specific people in the room, level checks, a short throwaway conversation on record.
- 0:30 to 1:30 The episode.
- 1:30 to 1:45 Pickups. Re-record an intro, restate something that came out muddled, grab a clean outro.
- 1:45 to 2:00 Check files, talk about what happens next, pack up.
An hour of finished conversation inside a two hour booking. That ratio holds for most people, most of the time.
Nobody has ever finished a session wishing they had booked less time.
What makes a session run long
- More people. Every additional person on camera adds setup and adds tangents.
- A guest who arrives late, which eats the buffer rather than extending the end.
- Deciding the format on the day instead of before.
- Recording multiple episodes without deciding the order in advance.
What makes it run short
Knowing the point of the episode. Having a spine. Having recorded before. Genuinely, the second session with the same setup runs noticeably faster than the first, and by the fourth you will be surprised how much you fit in.
Batching changes the maths entirely
The fixed costs, arriving, setting up, warming up, only happen once. So one episode in two hours becomes four episodes in five, not four episodes in eight.
At eight hours the rate drops nine percent here as well, so the per-episode cost falls twice over. There is more on how to run a day like that in batching a season in one day.
If you genuinely cannot judge it
Tell us what you want to end up with and how many people are involved, and we will tell you what it usually takes. We would rather size it correctly than sell you an extra hour you did not need, because a rushed first session is how people decide podcasting is not for them.
Questions we get asked about session length
Can I book just one hour?
Yes, one hour is the minimum. It works for a short solo episode where you know exactly what you are saying and you are not bringing a guest. For anything with another person in the room, an hour is tight once you account for them arriving and settling.
What if I finish early?
You keep the room for the time you booked. Most people who finish early use the remainder to record extra intros, grab a few short pieces to camera, or shoot stills against the set. It is rarely wasted if you plan a spare idea in advance.
Can I add time on the day?
Sometimes. It depends entirely on whether the room is free afterwards, so it is never something to count on. Overtime runs in fifteen minute blocks at a quarter of the hourly rate. If the session genuinely matters, book the extra hour up front rather than hoping.
How much time for four episodes?
Around eight hours, which is also where the nine percent discount starts. That is not four times a two hour session, because the setup and warm-up only happen once. It is the most efficient way to buy studio time by a wide margin.
If none of those match your situation, describe what you are making when you enquire and we will size it for you.
The bottom line
Booked time is not recording time. Once you account for arriving, settling, checking levels and packing up, an hour of finished conversation comfortably fills two hours of studio.
Book the extra hour. It costs less than the alternative, which is rushing the part you came to make, or discovering that overtime is not available because someone else has the room at four.
One last thing worth saying plainly: we would rather size a session correctly than sell you an extra hour you did not need. A rushed first session is the most common reason people decide podcasting is not for them, and that helps nobody.
Tell us what you are making and we will size the session for you.
