A voice over, or VO, in local TV newscasts generally runs about 20 to 30 seconds. A VO typically begins with the anchor reading a single sentence on camera before video of a news story is then taken. The video is shown as the anchor continues to read the rest of the news story. At a newscast producer’s discretion, the anchor may tag out the remaining story on camera with a sentence or two. This sometimes will happen when video to a particular story is limited.
A voice over plus sound on tape, or VOSOT, is basically a VO immediately followed by a sound bite from a person interviewed on camera. An SOT typically runs 15 seconds. Following the SOT, it is very common for either the reporter or anchor to conclude the VOSOT with an on-camera tag.
In broadcast news, a package typically runs a minute and thirty seconds. It’s comprised of a reporter’s taped audio track mixed with sound bites from interviewees. The audio track is then covered by video pertaining to the subject matter the reporter is discussing. The airing of a package almost always is concluded with a tag.
A reader usually runs about 15 seconds and is made up usually of just four sentences. During a reader, an anchor appears on camera the entire time. Readers are read by anchors only when there is no video, graphic or map to go along with the story. At the producer's discretion, when a graphic or map is available, the anchor may conclude the story with a tag.