Promise me that after you read this item, you won’t pester Jay Leno’s staff with a boring idea that could put his late-night audience to sleep. If you watch Leno, like I do, you know his “correspondents” travel far and wide to fun events where they can film whacky segments, from John Melendez going belly-to-belly… Read More
TV & Radio
Carve a pumpkin for TV publicity
Here’s an idea almost guaranteed to bring the TV cameras into your company in October. Sponsor a pumpkin-carving contest for employees. Invite an on-air personality at your local TV station to be the judge. The challenge? To carve the TV station’s logo in the pumpkin, of course. TV reporter Shawne Duperson loves those kinds of… Read More
Tips for pitching TV after a disaster
If you don’t subscribe to Bulldog Reporter’s excellent ezine “Journalists Speak Out,” you’re missing some terrific pitching tips. Brian Pittman passed along several tips last week after interviewing Penelope Dunham, producer for ABC-TV’s Channel 7 in San Francisco, on how PR people can pitch in the wake of a disaster. He gave me permission to… Read More
Pitch “how to” segments for TV talk shows, news
This time of year is perfect for pitching a “how to” segment for a local or national TV talk show or a newscast. For example: —Demonstrate how to carve a pumpkin. If you’re pitching to a local talk show, carve the local TV station’s call letters into the pumpkin. How in the world could a… Read More
Contact info for L.A. radio stations
If you want to get booked as a guest on a Los Angeles radio station, check out LARadio.com, a subscription site that gives you access to news about L.A. radio stations, behind-the-scenes bulletins and breaking news, night-before headlines delivered to your email box, more than eight years of archived columns, more than 1,000 email addresses… Read More
Clear pronunciation needed for a stint on NPR
Among the most loyal listeners of National Public Radio–ready for this?–are taxi cab drivers in Washington, D.C. and probably those elsewhere through the United States. Many listeners who are non-English speaking immigrants say that NPR and public radio in general give them the best information and the clearest diction on American radio. They appreciate NPR’s… Read More
Why food bribes work with broadcast media
The Milwaukee Brewers are off to a good start this year–yet another reminder of how using food to entice reproters to cover your story works. While Harley-Davidson was welcoming several hundred thousand bikers at its giant 100th anniversary reunion in Milwaukee several years ago, popular afternoon drive-time talk show host Mark Belling opened his show… Read More
May sweeps month not a good time to pitch TV news
If you’re pitching your local TV stations and not having much luck this month, it might be because we’re in the middle of May sweeps. Newsrooms everywhere are broadcasting their big investigative stories designed to boost the all important Nielsen ratings. Unless your pitch is time-sensitive, hold off pitching for another few weeks. Use this… Read More
Follow the clues
When you listen to your favorite radio talk show, do you listen with only one ear, oblivious to all the little clues the hosts or the drive-time deejays are dropping about their likes and dislikes, hobbies, friends and family members, and other topics that will catch their attention in your pitch letters and phone calls?… Read More
Prep your CEO for TV interviews
PR Week offers some great tips on how to prepare your CEO for TV interviews. Most of these items are useful for print and radio, too. They’re courtesty of Jerry Doyle, EVP at CommCore Consulting Group. 1. How well does he know the subject matter for the interview? It is perfectly reasonable to expect that… Read More