Tag Archives: TV

Tips for Making TV Pitches Nationally & Locally Relevant

Posted on March 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment
broadcast pr, pitching daytime tv,

Whether you’re pitching a daytime TV show or the network news, fine tuning your pitches for relevant viewer audiences improves the chances of getting the story on air.

When many of our clients start thinking about broadcast PR and getting TV coverage for their story, they often tell us  their primary objective is to have their segment or interview air in the top 20 DMA markets.  In many cases,  they don’t pause to consider whether or not those markets hold any value for their brand or product -  aside from just being the largest markets in the country.

In general, whether you’re pitching television producers for a satellite media tour, an in-studio interview, a b-roll package or are inviting media to attend a local event, relevancy is key.  It is crucial to make the story applicable to national media while attracting local markets.  This can be done by localizing information and “news-you-can-use” to these specific markets. For example, when a study released the top ten states where the burden of diabetes is projected to be the highest in 2015, stations within those states in top markets like Sacramento and Houston, who would normally not be interested in speaking with a doctor via satellite, participated in the SMT. This worked well for two reasons:

  • The specific statistics, information and tips made available to each station were relevant to viewers within that state.
  • We were able to tailor the pitch to be relevant nationally as well. For those states not on the list, we were able to frame the message as general stories about diabetes, and what viewers can do to protect their health.

This strategy made the story relevant nationally while simultaneously attracting local markets.

When Bicycling Magazine released its 50th anniversary edition with the Best Cities for Fall Foliage Biking, stations on that list were clamoring to participate in the lineup. Why? Because whether you’re number 1 or number 20 on that list, it provides an anchor with the opportunity to highlight the city, plus provide tips for viewers on where they could go to enjoy fall foliage biking in that city. Plus, the talent – in this case, the editor-in-chief of the magazine – was able to provide top tips for cyclists and perspective on cycling now versus 50 years ago in order to satisfy markets who were not on the list. Again, national relevancy while attracting local markets equaled a successful pitching strategy.

Some other questions to ask when trying to gear a pitch towards national, regional or local media:

-Where is my talent/spokesperson from? Where are they located now?

-Is my talent an A-list celebrity with national appeal who will attract national and local media?

-Who does my story affect? Is it a regional issue where only stations in the Midwest will be interested? Is about a disease that only affects a small population? Is it a contest being held in schools throughout the country where the markets of the local schools can be pitched, but where there are enough broad based tips and a call to action that would be appealing to all media? Is it an event taking place in one market?

The bottom line is if you need to delve into the anatomy of your story to determine who it affects in order to determine which stations will be interested. This will help shape your strategy and guide you in pitching your story to appropriate outlets where it can reach the right audience.

Author Risa Chuang is a media relations manager at MultiVu, a PR Newswire company.

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Is Your Story Right for Daytime TV?

Posted on November 28, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Most PR professionals have had the boss (or client) that wants to see their story on featured on big name day time talk shows.  There’s no question that mass media is still very effective, and here at MultiVu we hear these requests all the time, whether for air time on TV, national radio or the via the top 100 blogs for a particular segment.  This is always tricky, especially when dealing with a boss (or client) that is convinced their news is the most important of the day, and is convinced that teams from The Today Show or Oprah are lining up to interview him or her. Unfortunately, as most PR pros know, daytime TV only offers a finite number of interview opportunities, from Good Morning America to 20/20 and topics have to be relevant to each show’s format, and also of interest to their specific audience.  Herein is the problem, and following is our advice for determining whether or not a daytime slot is a good fit for your story.

A recent Beyond PR blog post titled “Getting on Daytime TV Talk Shows” broke down the format at Good Morning America.  Each show has its own format, and finding the best fit for the interview or demo you’re pitching is where you need to start.  Good Morning America, for example, is broken down into four sections:

  • •7 to 7:30 a.m. is the news half hour, covering the hard news of the day — timely, breaking news.
  • •7:30 to 8 a.m. is informational. Features have to be “buzzy” and visual (video, lots of pictures). For example, in late summer, they recently interviewed a doctor regarding the heat wave hitting various parts of the country. Rather than interviewing the doctor in the studio, they interviewed him in a sauna. At the beginning of the interview, they weighed him and took his vitals, and then compared them to his weight and vitals after being in the sauna. This helped them explain to viewers what happens to a body in extreme heat. “We are always trying to find visual ways to tell the story,” said Patty Neger, a coordinating producer on the show. “We are television. We don’t want talking heads. We’re always looking for a ‘television moment’ – what people will be talking about after the show.” Here is the opportunity to pitch a story idea, which should be an in studio opportunity, offering compelling content and visuals and an adept spokesperson. Remember, appeal to the audience.
  • •8 to 9 a.m. is hip, fun, visual entertainment – e.g., a fashion show featuring twins, one wearing a “splurge” item and the other wearing a “knockoff.” The anchors then try to guess which one is wearing which. This is a second opportunity to pitch a story – geared towards those who may still be home at 8am in the morning, or those surfing online later in the day – a good fit for a fun feature story.

The outline above shows that there is a maybe an hour and a half of air time, actually after commercials you can estimate an hour for interview opportunities, apply this across all daytime programming, and you are looking at maybe 5 hours of opportunity daily, for specific audiences. Now think of the hundreds of pitches each show receives daily and you can see that your story truly has to be of value to the outlet you are pitching.

Alternatives to daytime TV may be a better fit for your story – and audience.

So, what if you do have a story worth telling, but have been rejected by the top talk shows, how do you begin to get publicity for your client? Most importantly, identify who your audience is for this story. Are moms the focus? Then think about pitching parenting bloggers who are always looking for content.  Do you have a medical story? Don’t discount TV outlets that air in doctors’ waiting rooms. Travel? Think of all the screens at the airports, a captive audience for your information. Do you have a regional story to tell? Consider focusing on the smaller markets where your topic is of interest specifically.

There are many times when national exposure on daytime TV may be appropriate, but for others a more strategic and focused approach may be best and provide the most solid ROI for your project. Many outlets and opportunities for distribution exist that can upon discovery and counsel from your distribution partner can lead to a targeted strategy that truly delivers results.

Author Bev Yehuda is Vice President – Web Engagement Products for MultiVu, a PR Newswire Company.  MultiVu specializes in multimedia production and distribution.

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Social TV – it’s here, and it’s presenting new communications opportunities

Posted on October 13, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Today’s post is penned by guest author Kevin O’Connor, president of User Insight.  In it he digs into social TV,  an emerging trend can be a goldmine for communicators, in terms of market intelligence and real-time opportunity.  

Kevin O’Connor, president of User Insight

Social TV has arrived.  It’s no longer a techy, futuristic dream – it’s a strong, ever-evolving player in today’s technology and media spheres. So what is ‘Social TV’ exactly? As it is used today, social TV is a broad term referring to technologies that support social interactions in the context of watching television or consuming TV-related content.Social media experts, Brian Solis among others, are asserting their belief that the four screens in people’s lives – the computer screen, TV screen, tablet screen and mobile device screen – will eventually converge for a completely connected television-watching experience. And, it seems that this convergence is upon us! In 2010, Forrester found that U.S. consumers spent equal time on the Internet as they did watching TV. In the same year, Neilsen reported that of Americans’ time spent online, 22.7% of it was spent on social networks, an increase of 43% since the 2009 report. Just 2 weeks ago, Youtoo, the first social TV channel launched, allowing viewers to join the commentary about some of their favorite shows and be on TV for a quick moment of fame.

No doubt about it, social TV concepts are wide-ranging and varied. In the hardware realm, there are streaming devices such as Roku, gaming consoles such as Xbox, and internet-connectable TVs such as Yahoo! Connected TV. In the software space, consumers have a wide variety of choices from content discovery applications and check-in applications such as IntoNow and GetGlue to social programming applications such as SocialGuide.

While there’s a lot of buzz surrounding social TV, many key questions remain unanswered. For instance, how will these concepts come together into marketable technologies? What do consumers want to see from the world of Social TV? To answer these questions and more, our team here at User Insight began a yearlong Social TV research project, titled “The Social TV Experiment” applying the best of what we do: user research.

This research focused on consumers’ behaviors to identify:

  • The viewers most likely to be avid social TV participants,
  • How viewers will most likely use a social TV tool,
  • Which features and functionalities will appeal to each type of social TV viewer,
  • What applications, interfaces and/or mediums will likely lead the pack as companies scramble to market social TV products and
  • How these products could be successfully marketed to the public.

Our research resulted in the identification of 6 social TV personas that we will share during our up-coming Social TV Event. For those unfamiliar with personas, a persona represents a cluster of users who exhibit similar behavioral patterns. The 6 social TV personas we identified each have unique behavioral characteristics and, in turn, feature and functionality preferences that product managers, developers, marketers and advertisers should keep in mind when entering this space.

As a seamless, intuitive user experience is the key to viewer adoption and the future of this emerging space, we will be incorporating users’ perspectives throughout the day of the Social TV Event conference via our research and also via user video footage. The opportunity for brands and networks to interact with viewers on all 4 screens and then receive feedback from them (think Old Spice ads featuring Isaiah Mustafa), is an exciting yet complex proposition. To learn more about this ever-evolving space from some of the pioneers, join the conversation at The Social TV Event online on October 20th. Visit www.SocialTVEvent.com to register.

About the author – Kevin O’Connor, President, User Insight

As president of User Insight, Kevin O’Connor is responsible for all aspects of the company’s client relations, with a focus on helping clients transform their companies into user-centered organizations. Kevin helped grow User Insight to a firm that today provides user experience research and strategy for 300 clients, spanning 25 different industries. Since January of this year, Kevin helped spearhead User Insight’s social TV research initiative, focused on understanding behaviors exhibited in users’ homes and how the social TV revolution stands to change how people watch, interact and consume TV content. Kevin has written articles on the topics of social TV and personas for both UX Booth and UX Magazine. Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinUi.

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