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Researching Broadcast Media and Beyond
Learn how to do research for Radio, Television, and Podcast and find the best shows and reporters to tell your story
Keren Speck
August 13, 2024
What's in store for this edition:
Radio, TV and Podcast Research
Radio, Television, and Podcast Research
Last week was Print Media Research, this week we have broadcast and beyond.
Nailing your research is an important part of getting on the show that you are dreaming of. I’m especially excited for this weeks toolbox, featuring PodPitch, a new tool for Podcast research.
Good research should include knowing the genre(for radio) or audience of the outlet, past guests, style of the show, and understanding of the hosts or journalists. All of this information can be used to tailor your pitch perfectly.
Ready to get started, Sherlock?
Radio
Radio is especially good for PR campaigns that have a local angle. The first step is to identify radio stations that align with your target audience. Learn what is the station’s format, audience, and demographics are. Would your story best be told on a morning show or a talk radio show?
I recommend starting off local.
Select a show you are interested in.
Collect get the websites and social media handles information.
Find the email address to use for pitching.
Before you make that compelling pitch, make sure you’re a good fit by listening to episodes and really understanding the show.
If you want to go bigger, this is a huge database you can access for a fee. This would be for very large PR projects and would need lots of time dedicated to it. However it’s a great resource if needed.
If you are a musician and want to pitch your music to be played, that’s a whole different ball game. Let me know if this is a subject of interest to you.
💫 Pro Tip: Because radio is an auditory experience, try to create a mental picture for listeners. Be conversational, interesting, and able to create images with words, fashioned in short sound bites.
Television News
Local TV covers national and regional news, but will often cover local stories. You will want to have good sound bites, or to-the-point information for sharing quickly since television presents stories in brief formats.
Television is a medium of feeling, so viewers react to appearance, voice and attitude. Only be interviewed as an expert if you truly are the expert.
Like newspapers, TV station reporters will have specific beats they cover. So if you send in a pitch, make sure it is to the correct reporter.
Do you have an event you’re hoping for coverage for? Send in your news release or pitch two to three weeks before the event.
For a story of how I got on the news while on vacation, you can pick up a tip or two. It wasn’t fortuitous, I sought out the opportunity.
Let’s talk how to research.
Go to all of the websites of the news stations that you would like to have cover your story.
Collect information about station like:
coverage area
various programming
editorial focus
different shows
the hosts
the reporters (usually found in drop down menu, meet the team, or something similar)
contact details
You can also find stories with a similar coverage to what you would like to promote, and research the reporter who covered that. If you click on their names it will list all the stories they covered lately.
💫 Pro Tip: If your pitch is too similar to recent stories, chances are it won’t be covered, since it’s not new. In cases like this you may be able to think of a different story angle to pitch, or find a different news station to promote it on.
Podcasting
Research what podcast you want to be on. Listen to a few episodes to see if the format and tone is a good fit for you.
Most podcasts are clear about what type of guest that they are looking for. If your skill set is similar to other guests, then you may be a good fit.
Find the contact information for the podcast. Check out the website and see if there is a “contact Us” page. If not, try a Google search “podcast name + contact” or an email search service. (Don’t pitch yourself on social media, but their profile may have an email address)
For any pitch you send out, make sure it’s tailored for the show. State clearly who you are, what you do, why you’d be a good guest, what makes you different, what value do you bring to the audience.
There’s various methods of doing podcast research that you can use, but I may have found a cool new tool, PodPitch. They help streamline the process and save you hours. See this week’s toolbox for more details.
📝 Note: It is difficult to know how many listeners a podcast may have since there's no way to know the exact numbers of how many people are streaming or downloading the show. You can get estimate of audience figures and popularity or look at official rankings charts to see how different shows compare.
💪 PR Key Takeaways
Research the outlet, their audience, the podcast format and style
Personalize Your Pitch
Highlight Your Expertise
Follow Up
"Radio was supposed to die in 1945, when TV came along. It turns out that radio grew and grew, and it's a bigger business today than it has ever been."
Do this now:
Find the contact information for a local radio program.
How did it go?
__ Easy Peasy __ No Can Do _Still Working on ItWhat’s the dream podcast for you to be a guest on?
Now find the relevant information for that podcast.
__ Done __ Need HelpCan you find the local newsroom contact information?
Better yet, who would be the best journalist to cover a story about a new product that changes lives in your local news station?
___Found it! ___Still Looking
Next Time: Engaging with Media — How to be careful but not afraid.
Term to Learn
Traditional Media refers to offline communication channels such as radio, broadcast television, cable and satellite, print, and billboards.
FAQ
Q: Is Social Media presence a good enough replacement for Public Relations?
A: Social media is very important in your digital PR plan, however it’s not the only part. Digital PR involves an overall approach which can include content marketing, SEO, digital media mentions, and social media. Having these components make for strong digital PR strategy.
Get PR techniques from recent news.
Newsworthy
Broccoli Hair 🥦
Curly and unruly up top, tapered and structured on the bottom, broccoli hair has taken over, especially in the teenage boy segment.
What can you do to capitalize on this trend or other trends in your PR strategy?
Essential strategy:
Watch TikTok and Instagram for the latest viral sensations.
Get creative and make your spin on it visually interesting, unique, fun.
Have fun with memes or challenges.
Make messaging relatable and engaging.
💫 Pro Tip: Be an active participant with online dialogue by seamlessly integrating your messaging into the conversation.
✍️ Key PR Takeaway: Monitor, target, create, engage, have fun!
Learn from others.
100% Cool : 0% Cringe
California Pizza Kitchen - Mac and Cheese Please
@calpizzakitchen PSA on how to make CPK Mac 'N' Cheese correctly.👨🏻🍳🍝 Use promo code cheeseANDmac for 50% off your Mac 'N' Cheese order available for take... See more
A lady having the worst week of her life, ordered Mac n’ Cheese from California Pizza Kitchen, and just got the cheese. She posted this on TikTok and the video got Millions of views.
Before it got that many views though, CPK, because of Social Media monitoring, was able to make a quick, hilarious reply, that went even more viral.
Plus: They sent her a year’s supply of pizza and mac and cheese. They also offered EVERYONE half-off mac n’ cheese.
What I like is it got people thinking about California Pizza Kitchen.
✍️ Key PR Takeaway: They fixed the problem swiftly. They used humor and poked fun at themselves for the mistake.
Useful PR Resources.
🧰 TOOLKIT
I’ve used different tools for podcast research before, but never anything like this one. PodPitch will save you a TON of time and it’s easy to use. Why? Because PodPitch has the email address of every English-speaking podcast (3.8 million of them). This means you don’t have to spend time trying to find email address.
PodPitch is a new software that builds podcast email lists and drafts pitches for you.
You first input your biography and some facts about yourself. There are a few options that you then select to customize to you and your needs.
PodPitch then searches every podcast out there and will find the ones most relevant to you, all within minutes. All the emails are verified.
After that, sync your email to train your own AI to write pitches in your style.
Just click a button for your personal AI to instantly draft pitches for each contact in your list. You can edit the pitches to perfection.
With one click, you can send your pitches from your own email address.
I spent some time with the co-founder learning all about this tool. What impressed me were some of the small details they didn’t miss, and the quality of AI writing.
They are offering my readers a very special discounted price of $99 and if within the first 30 days you’re not happy for any reason, then you get your money back, even if you’ve already sent out pitches.
Click here to book a FREE personalized walkthrough with their team I did and it was very easy and helpful.
P.S. - the founders say that if it’s not the most impressive PR tech demo you’ve ever seen, they’ll buy you Starbucks (really)! That’s why I’m drinking my home brew, because it blew my socks off. 🧦
Attention Seeker of the Week
Pam Pam & Bam Bam
Pam Pam & Bam Bam, 3-year-old Rex rabbits, know a thing or two about getting attention. Whether it’s invading your personal space or chewing on the ever-tempting forbidden charger, there is no method too small to let you know attention is needed. Who knew these floppy hoppers were so adept at getting attention?
This week I trying venturing into the world of posting on Tiktok. Let’s hope I make it out unscathed.
Until next week, keep your shades on and stay cool.
Your fellow Seeker,
Keren
🕶️
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