Music is an important part of the show, as it helps to draw in the culture that has grown out of this sport. For many distributors of this genre, music may be the single, most important ingredient. However, alternative sports programming is less costly than traditional sports because it is not shot live. Shooting these sports live would be quite an undertaking. Many of the events that fall into this sports genre depend on benevolent weather and environment conditions, especially the snow- and waterboard sports.
Weather is a big factor in filming.
Full camera crews may sit for days before the scheduled event can actually take place. Location is another factor in prohibiting live broadcasts. Many events take place off the coast of Australia or New Zealand, creating window difficulties for a live broadcast. However, Marquez claimed that this is one area that X Dream would like to explore, using satellite uplinks to broadcast international events. Another cost cutter is the lack of rights producers have to pay to film an event, although the sale of event rights has grown with the popularity of the sport.