No Shock – Talk Radio’s a New Game! Part 1
Article at a glance:
- Why radio interviews have gone from one hour to today’s norm of 7 to 10 minutes.
- How radio stations are rated and what this means to you.
Last week I introduced you to our new Creative Director, Penny Carnathan, an award-winning former newspaper editor who shared tips for getting press coverage in this era of changing media. I got such great feedback, I thought I’d introduce you to some of the other members of our team who can share similar insights about the media.
I’ll start with Alex (“Dro”) Hinojosa, who spent 15 years as a talk radio host, as he’s got some excellent insights into this industry, for those looking to use radio to get their message out. As with newspapers, it’s a new age in the world of talk radio.
Decking the Halls Doesn’t Mean Slowing Down
While Your Competitors Guzzle the Eggnog, You Can Be Getting the Media
And now, the season begins.
In the office, everyone is hanging around the coffee machine longer and enjoying holiday deserts. Outside the office, people are caught up in the holiday parties, shopping, food, family gatherings, and enough reruns of holiday programs that they are replaying the Grinch song in their head. They spend a little more time online surfing eBay for gifts and writing emails to associates hoping to put any real work off until January 2.
Going Away for the Holidays? The Media Won’t
Having just gotten through Labor Day, I’m reminded that we’ll soon be closing in on the BIG holiday season. It’s a time when many businesses are closed for several days and business slows to a crawl in most of the country from Thanksgiving right on through New Year’s Day.
However, there is one industry that doesn’t close down. It’s the media and here are some statistics to back that up:
So, What’s The Value of All My PR Efforts, Anyway?
How To Measure The Results of Your PR Campaign
I tend to use this space as a “how to” venue. I like to share my insights on how to get the media excited about you, your message, your products, your services and books. My hope is that the information I offer will enable you to generate media placements for yourself to further your public relations efforts.
However, I’m frequently asked about the value of PR in relation to the business goals it’s designed to enhance. People wonder what will happen if they’re able to achieve a picture-perfect PR campaign and get the media to notice them and generate coverage for them. They wonder if the upside is increased sales, or if it’s in the branding or maybe it’s just the increased exposure for their company or projects or their book.
The short answer is yes, but the long answer is a bit more complicated than that. First thing’s first. When we do a print campaign, for instance, we rate it based on the reach of the publications in traditional print outlets and online outlets. We use two key terms – circulation and visitors per month (VPM) – and while one of those terms is old and the other is new, they are based on the same principle. Read more
Christmas in August?
You Need to Start Now To Be in Your Customers’ Holiday Plans
Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the shopping’s so delightful
So since we’ve got cash to blow
Let it go, let it go, let it go.
Okay, so I’m no Burt Bacharach, but you get the idea.
The fourth quarter – that holiday spending season between October and December – is still a month and a half away, so I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m riffing on a holiday classic. My point is that the holidays is when consumers and businesses make a disproportionate amount of purchases compared to the rest of the year, but just because they spend the money in Q4 doesn’t mean that’s when they also make the decisions on what to spend it on. Read more
Why Can’t I Just Talk About My Book On The Air? Why Using the Media to Sell Books is a Finesse Play
Unless you’re Oprah, a former president or a major celebrity, there is one question you will likely never be asked by the media when promoting a book.
“So why did you write your book?”
They won’t ask it, not because they don’t know you’re an author nor because they’re being rude. They won’t ask because the media doesn’t exist to help authors sell books. The media exists to create content that informs and entertains its audience, so that their audience stays tuned in. The more audience they have, the more advertising dollars they can charge for their print space and air time. Audiences are what make them money.
This is one of the most common disconnects we usually see with those who are new to the game of PR. Authors expect they can use the media as a venue to talk about their books, while the media is only interested in them for their expertise and the information or entertainment they can offer their audiences. Read more on why you can't just talk about your book on the air →
Is the TV Commercial Dying? Why What Happens Between the Commercials Has Become Even More Important
My Senior Campaign Manager, Tony Panaccio, wrote a great piece the other day about the state of TV advertising and I thought it was so interesting I wanted to share it with you.
Maybe it’s me, but I read something the other day that made me wonder if I’m the only one who doesn’t see the logic here.
The Nielsen Company tracks the audience viewership of TV programs so that programmers and advertisers can get a handle on how many people are watching certain shows. Programmers take that data and figure out how much they’ll charge to advertise on their shows. Of course, they pay attention to key demographics and more granular statistics, but at the end of the day, this is the data that helps them figure out that they’re going to charge $3 million per minute to advertise on The Super Bowl broadcast and $1 – $3.80 per minute on reruns of the recent reboot of Hawaii Five-0. Read more on is the TV commercial dying →
How to Give a Great Print Media Interview: Five Tips You Don’t Want to Miss
Sometimes I cringe when I hear people talk about “the media.” It sounds as if everyone in TV, radio, print and online press is a member of one fraternity that thinks and acts the same. There is a vast gulf between the daily life of a print journalist and the daily life of a radio show host. And there are many differences between radio hosts and TV producers.
They really shouldn’t be treated the same. That’s why I’ve written a booklet called 50 Tips to Make You A Great Radio Guest and a similar piece for TV. Now I am compiling interview tips for working with print and online journalists (which in many cases can be the same thing). This will be the first of three articles, so stay tuned for the others over the next two weeks. Read more on how to give a great print media interview →
Are You On Top of the News? It Can Dictate Your PR
One of the things I tell clients who want to get coverage in print and online press is that they have to read the news. If you want the print media to cover you, I think it simply helps if you know what it is they like to write about.
Part and parcel of my being a PR professional is to subsist on a vast daily diet of news digested the old fashioned way. I read newspapers and magazines, and at night and in the morning I watch a lot of television news programs, with a pretty even mix of straight-up news broadcasts and “talking head” panel shows.
My chief strategist calls that “old school.” He still reads the equivalent of two newspapers a day and he watches news broadcasts and talking head shows, as well – but he does it all online in smaller bites. He has a lot of hands-on PR work to do each day, so he can’t devote hours upon hours every day the way I do. Read more on being on top of the news →
How to Prepare for the Big Interview
The Questions You Ask Yourself are as Important as the Answers
After more than 20 years in the public relations business, I’ve discovered one universal truth: There’s really nothing quite as important as preparing for an interview.
After all, if you’ve gone through all the trouble of studying the news, reading about the issues and creating a set of resonant messages and have used them to score an interview with a journalist, why would you want to wing it? The problem is most people prepare for an interview by asking themselves the questions THEY would ask THEMSELVES, instead of asking the questions a professional journalist would likely ask them. That’s where I have seen many campaigns run off the rails before they begin. Read more on how to prepare for the big interview →
Planning on Booking Your Own TV Publicity?
There’s More to It than Just Sending Out a Press Release
In the past few months, I’ve covered a lot of ground with regard to how to do your own public relations campaign. I’ve explained how to make yourself or your company appealing to the media, how to write pitches and why articles work better than press releases.
But I haven’t yet explained some crucial elements with regard to orchestrating a PR campaign and more specifically with regard to landing TV appearances. Radio and print publicity definitely require attention to details – but the number of logistical issues you have to deal with for TV exposure is far greater. Read more on how to book your own TV publicity →
Want to Get on TV? Follow a Daily News Routine to Increase Your Chances
Over the years, I’ve always advised my clients that if you want to get in the news, you have to watch and read the news. I know it sounds a little like “bumper sticker” advice, but it’s really not meant as a sound bite. In fact, we use a practical application of that advice every single morning at our agency.
It’s actually a very simple list of easy steps that anyone can do, and it can get blockbuster results. Read more on a strategy to get on TV →
Michael Uslan – Executive Producer of Batman Films
In the mid 1970s, Michael Uslan bought the film rights to a comic book character no movie studio cared about – Batman. For more than a decade he labored with writers and producers, pitching his darkly elegant vision of this movie. Finally, in the late 1980s, Michael was able to assemble a team that included director Tim Burton and stars Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson to create the landmark movie Batman. After its premiere in 1989, it became the highest grossing movie of all time at that point in movie history.
Since then, Michael has been the co-executive producer (along with partner Benjamin Melnicker) of the Batman franchise of films, including the recent blockbusters Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He has also been involved in other films, such as Constantine, National Treasure and upcoming film versions of The Shadow and Shazam. Read more on Michael Uslan, producer of Batman franchise →
How to Make the Most of Your On-Air Time
Ever since the days when every TV set was a massive 12 inches, and millions of Americans tuned in to watch I Love Lucy in glorious black and white, television has been in the center of our living rooms.
Today, the screens are larger, the picture is in high-definition color and the programming choices are near infinite. Also, in addition to shows of general interest, there are now literally hundreds of cable network shows that cater to specialized niche markets. Plus, millions are now watching TV shows on their cell phones and computers. All in all, TV viewership continues to soar. Read more on how to make the most of your on-air time →
How to Get the Media Interested in You: You May Be Newsworthy Without Even Knowing It
Do you know what the media would consider newsworthy about you or your company?
Many new clients come to us with a strong opinion about what their “pitch” should be, but often miss the mark, in terms of knowing what will get the media to sit up and pay attention to their message. But it’s very understandable that this could occur, if you’re not working with the media the way we do, day in and day out, developing story angles intended to grab their interest. Read more on getting the media interested in you →
How Not to Do a TV Interview
4 “Don’ts” to Keep In Mind to Ensure You Don’t Blow It
Sometimes I feel bad for on-air TV personalities, because if you’re on television regularly for any length of time, you’re going to screw up. It’s inevitable. It’s the law of averages, and when you do, YouTube will be sure to archive it for future generations. Read more on how NOT to do a TV Intervew →
Do You Skip the TV Commercials? You’re Not Alone
Why Getting On the Show Is More Important Than Ever
Commercials used to be the time to get up and stretch the ol’ legs, get a snack or let the dog out. Today, they are the signal to hit the fast forward button on the remote.
The advent of Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), often referred to by one of the leading brand names, TIVO, has finally given the viewer a break from the background noise of television advertising. Instead of being screamed at by local car dealers, pitched on the ShamWow or told repeatedly to not squeeze the Charmin, many consumers who subscribe to cable TV these days just zoom past the commercials without ever giving them a second look. Read more on being IN the show, not in the commercial →
How to Get Your Web Site Mentioned on the Air
More and more, the Web site is becoming the point of sale for many businesses, whether they are product or service oriented. E-commerce is driving more consumer sales than ever before, and the Internet has already become the first stop for companies interested in B2B products and services. Read more on using TV and radio interviews to drive traffic to your website →
How to Market Your Product or Service on Radio & TV – Without Buying Advertising Time!
Here’s the situation. You have a great product or service and YOU know it. But just like the “better mousetrap,” it doesn’t mean a thing unless your market knows it too. TV and radio are great avenues for promoting to the masses. They are dynamic media allowing consumers to visualize and hear you enlighten them (the way only you can) to the great value of your offering. Read more on how to market your book on radio & TV →
How Do You Know Which Medium Is Right For Your Message?
Five hundred press releases is the average number delivered to the New York Times every day. When you get to major metropolitan daily newspapers, the number drops to about 250, and 100 for community weeklies. Most local TV stations are in the 200 range and radio is around 100.
Per day. Read more on knowing which medium is right for your message →
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