What software do TV shows use to track post-production?
Most episodic television shows track post-production in spreadsheets - usually several, one per department. Purpose-built options fall into three groups: media asset managers that catalogue files, review tools that collect notes on cuts, and coordination tools that track where each episode is and who has it. Wheelhouse is the third kind, built for high-volume unscripted shows.
Most shows track post in spreadsheets. Usually several - one for episodes, one for deliverables, one for music cues, and one the post coordinator keeps privately because the shared one is always out of date.
Purpose-built software splits into three groups that often get confused:
Media asset managers catalogue and store your files. They answer where is the media.
Review and approval tools collect timed notes on a cut. They answer what did people say about it.
Coordination tools answer where is this episode, and who has it right now. That is a different question, and it is the one asked most often in a post office.
Wheelhouse is the third kind. It does not store your media, and it is not where notes get given. It tracks the work: what stage each episode is at, whose spin it is, what is due next, and which deliverables have gone out.
Why shows end up on spreadsheets anyway
A spreadsheet is free, everybody can already use it, and it fits any show on day one. The trouble starts at volume. A season of 190 episodes with packages reused across them raises a question a spreadsheet cannot answer: if this package changes, which episodes are affected?
That, and one more: a cell is only as true as the last person who remembered to update it.
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