MODIFICATION
R -- Packaged Television News/Feature Reports
- Notice Date
- 3/24/2006
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 512110
— Motion Picture and Video Production
- Contracting Office
- Broadcasting Board of Governors, Associate Director for Management, Office of Contracts (M/CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 2500, Washington, DC, 20237
- ZIP Code
- 20237
- Solicitation Number
- BBGCON3406S5855
- Response Due
- 4/1/2006
- Archive Date
- 4/16/2006
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- Amendment No. 2 is issued to: 1) extend the deadline for receipt of proposals to 2:00pm, EST, Monday, April 10, 2006, and 2) provide the answers to questions that were received in response to Solicitation No. BBGCON3406S5855. Please be advised that 115 questions were received in response to our requirement. Amendment No. 2 provides answers to the first sixty (60) questions, and Amendment No. 3 provides answers to the remaining fifty-five (55) questions. Question (Q) 1. In the interest of providing the best value to the Government and avoiding possible future conflicts, can VOA provide much more specific information regarding the expectations and requirements for this contract? Particularly in regards to travel and journalistic expectations, there are a lot of issues that are not directly addressed in this RFP. Answer (A) 1. BBG believes it has provided all necessary information for this requirement. The Contractor is responsible for the development of all packages. VOA expects all stories to be accurate, comprehensive, balanced and journalistically sound. VOA will not pay travel costs. Q2. 10 to 60 packages is a very broad number and leaves open innumerable questions regarding expectations and execution. It will be difficult for a contractor to determine how to truly provide the best value to the government, so can you provide more specific information regarding the specifics of the packages and content VOA is seeking, and the journalistic approach for those stories? A2. No, VOA cannot provide any additional information. Refer to A1 above. Q3. In order for the contractor to specify the number of TV reports they are capable of delivering each month, can VOA provide much more specifics on the types of stories, areas they want covered, what will determine the number of packages required each month, geographic areas most interested in and any other specific information to help contractor determine VOA?s requirements? A3. No, additional information will be provided, except to refer to the solicitation. Q4. Does VOA currently have a set budget for a set # of packages? For instance, if contractor can provide 60 packages/month at the outset of the contract, does VOA have an available budget to purchase that # of stories each month, beginning with the award of the contract? A4. VOA has a budget for the requirement in the solicitation. Q5. Can VOA provide guidance on if there is a budget timeline for increasing the number of packages produced each month? A5. See A4 above. Q6. Does VOA currently procure packages from outside sources? A6. Yes. Q7.Is anyone currently providing similar services to VOA or any of its language services either under contract or on an ad hoc basis? A7. Yes, on an ad hoc basis only. Q8. The RFP has a lot of references to a ?mutual? consent and agreement between the contractor and VOA. Are there plans for VOA to personally interview contractors, before awarding the contract, to ensure VOA and the contractor have the same philosophy and approach to news production? A8. This requirement does allow for discussions and submission of Final Proposal Revisions (FPRs). However, the closing date is not until April 10, 2006. Thus, it is easy to determine whether any of the above will be used. We have to wait and see the responses before we can determine if a meeting is required. Q9. If VOA does currently procure similar services and/or packages as described in the RFP, will that company be given preference on this contract? A9. This is a new requirement. However, similar Packages have been procured on an ad hoc basis from various companies. No firm will be given preference in this competition. Q10. If so, does VOA have a rate card, standard price or any guidance on the price range it typically pays for outside produced stories? A10. The rate for each story is normally established by negotiating price within an existing range. The Offeror must include ALL of their costs (travel, etc.) in his proposed firm-fixed price for the story. The VOA will consider all proposed prices in arriving at an award decision. Q11. If VOA is currently procuring package production from outside vendors, what fees are they currently charging per package? A11. See A10 above. Q12. Does that fee include travel and other out of pocket costs including transmission, overnight mail, etc? A12. Yes. Q13. What is the guideline for the number of shooting days expected for each 1:30 to 2:30 minute package and for each 2:30 to 4:00 minute package? A13. There is no set guideline. It would depend on the story. Q14. What is the guideline for the number of editing hours expected for each 1:30 to 2:30 minute package and for each 2:30 to 4:00 minute package? A14. See A13 above. Q15. Can VOA provide further guidance on the type and amount of travel expected? A15. No. Q16. Without more specifics on expected travel, how should contractors account for different per diem costs when the per diem for Dearborn is very different than the per diem for Paris? A16. See A1 above. Q17. Who will determine the level of travel required for the contract? A17. VOA and the Contractor will reach mutual agreement. Q18. What happens if VOA requests a story from a location that the contractor feels is cost-prohibitive to travel to? A18. The Contractor may elect to not produce the story. Q19. Will any provisions be made for VOA to reimburse travel costs, if they request a story from a location that requires a high cost of travel? A19. No. Q20. What happens if the contractor and VOA cannot ?mutually? determine or agree upon a minimum of 10 stories per month? A20. In the event the Contractor and VOA cannot mutually agree on a minimum of 10 stories per month, the Contractor will be reimbursed only for the number of stories that are accepted by the VOA. Q21. How many ?rejections? per month does the contractor have? A21. There is no set number of ?rejections? per month. Q22. If VOA and the contractor can't agree on ten stories a month, will the contractor still get paid for that minimum anyway? Or does it carry over to following months? A22. See A20 above. Q23. What happens if the contractor and VOA cannot agree on a delivery method for an agreed upon package? A23. VOA may not procure the package. Q24. Is there any fixed percentage of areas that stories will come from, i.e. ten percent technology, ten percent health? Also, there didn?t seem to be any stories about social issues, democracy, capitalism, environment, etc. A24. No. Q25. What are the specific criteria for determining when it is acceptable for VOA to fill limited video gaps with file or news feed video? A25. There are no specific criteria available for the above. Q26. How do you define ?limited video gaps? as referenced in the Workflow section of the RFP? A26. Small less than 15 seconds. Q27. If contractor has access to news feeds, and VOA has rights to those feeds, can contractor use that video for the packages, at the contractor?s discretion? A27. Yes, but the majority of any report should be original to that specific report. Q28. What news feeds does VOA have the rights to? A28. APTN, ABC Newsone. Q29. If VOA does not use the material provided by the contractor, how long before the contractor can offer that material to other outlets? A29. Immediately. Q30. What will determine the number of packages submitted (10 to 60) each month? A30. The news and the number that can be mutually agreed upon. Q31. Can you define and specify the ?contracting by negotiation procedures?? A31. After receipt of proposals, there may be discussions between VOA and offerors who have reasonable chance of award. These offerors may be asked to submit Final Proposal Revisions. This process is called negotiations. Q32. Who will determine what is the best length for a package and what specific criteria will be used? A32. It will be mutually agreed upon. Q33. What happens if the contractor and the ARCO disagree on the acceptable length for a package? A33. If it can?t be mutually agreed to we won?t produce the report. Q34. Do you anticipate most stories to be character driven? A34. When appropriate. Q35. Is there a requirement for each package to have at least one interview? A35. The reports should be accurate, comprehensive, balanced and journalistically sound. To achieve that, normally would require at least one, if not more, interviews. Q36. Does the person being interviewed have to be approved by the ARCO before the contractor can proceed to book the interview? A36. No. Q37. Can VOA provide specific guidelines on the elements they expect to be included in each package? A37. The elements would be dictated by the story. See A35 above. Q38. Does VOA require a transcript of the interviews? A38 As stated in the RFP, we require a full script of the story. Q39.Does VOA require a copy of the entire raw footage of the interview? A39. No. Q40. Does VOA require a copy of the raw footage shot for each story? A40. No. Q41. Can contractors use footage from APTN or Newsource, which already provide footage to VOA? A41. Yes as long as it makes up only a small part of the story. Q42. In suggesting stories, do the stories have to be usable by all of the VOA services, or just by some A42. The stories do not have to be usable by all of the VOA services. Q43. Will some stories be used by only one Service, i.e. Persian? How many? A43. No. There is no set number of stories for each service. The stories will be used based on news events at VOA?s discretion. Q44. Are there a minimum number of services that have to be interested in a story before it is approved by the ARCO? A44. No. Q45. If the packages are utilized by Al Hurra or TV Marti, is the contractor paid an additional fee? How much? A45. If this happens, the amount of any additional fee would be negotiated between the Contractor and Al Hurra or TV Marti. Q46. If the audio from a package is used by VOA radio, does the contractor receive an additional fee? How much? A46. No. Q47. If VOA offers the packages to affiliates outside of VOA/IBB, will contractor receive an additional fee? A47. No. Q48. If the contractor scores an ?exclusive? interview or ?exclusive? footage, will VOA distribute that footage and interview to other news outlets with whom they don?t have contracts, i.e. Fox, BBC, NBC, etc.? A48. VOA is restricted from distributing to US domestic broadcasters. Q49. When the package is assigned, who makes the determination of the length of the package? A49. Mutual determination at the time of the assignment. Q50. Does VOA plan to stream the packages on their web site? Do they require exclusivity for that? A50. We may stream on occasion but exclusivity is not required. Q51. How long does it take for a package to be accepted? A. See RFP Section (vi) Subsection entitled, ?Workflow.? Q52. Is the ARCO the sole determinant of acceptability? A52. Yes. Q53. Is there an appeal? A53. No. Q54. Who replaces the ARCO during vacations, retirement, sick days, etc? A54. A backup, to be determined, will be designated and the Contractor will be notified. Q55. How long must the contractor wait before selling a rejected story elsewhere? A55. There is no waiting period for rejected stories. Q56. Can packages be done in a series, i.e. more than one package on a theme? A56. We would consider a series. Q57. Does VOA require any specific information on the reporters and producers who will be filing stories? A57. No. Q58. Can VOA specifically define their expected professional and journalistic standards? A58. See A1 above. Q59. Specifically how will it be determined, what are the specific criteria and who will mediate if VOA wants to cancel a story, but the contractor has already spent time working on the story? A59. If a story is cancelled, the Contractor will be paid for costs incurred up to the point of cancellation. Q60. Will VOA give written specifics about what content is expected for each story, so there are no guidelines to refer to if VOA determines ?the content of the story is not what was promised.? A60. See A1 above. Please be mindful that the last day for questions was March 7, 2006. Proposals are due at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Office of Contracts, ATTN: Marlene Brooks, 330 C Street, SW, Room 2527, Washington, DC 20237 on Monday, April 10, 2006 at 2:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time.
- Record
- SN01014008-W 20060326/060324211603 (fbodaily.com)
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