Tel: 212.736.2727
Viewing Impressions of Local TV Are Increasing
What are PR professionals saying about the shifting local TV landscape?
- 61% were surprised that a high percentage of journalists is interested in interviewing brand executives.
- More than 80% said that COVID-19 made it more important to get organization leaders and CEOs featured on television, with 52% increasing their efforts in trying to realize this goal.
- Only 37% felt that they were technically prepared to make sure their leaders looked and sounded their best.
Need some help getting ready for an interview? D S Simon Media is providing free tech checks to help make sure spokespeople deliver the best audio and video quality for their next TV interview. Contact Doug Simon, dougs@dssimonmedia.com to schedule.
>> More episodes here
Full Transcript:
Welcome to the Media Guide for PR Pros. I’m Doug Simon of D S Simon Media. A report by the TBD, which is the local TV news advertising promotional organization, found local TV news viewership was up 162 percent among 18 to 34 year olds. It’s also increasing in every age demographic since the onset of COVID-19. From an earlier survey we took, we found that 87 percent of local news producers were open to interviewing brand executives the highest we’ve ever found.
But what our PR people saying about the importance of getting their executives in the news? And how hard are they trying to get there? We’ve got a report on that for you right now. Interestingly 61 percent of the PR pros were surprised to find out that such a high percentage of journalists were interested in interviewing brand executives, though they felt it was more important. In fact, more than 80 percent of them said that COVID-19 had made it more important to get their organization’s leaders and even their CEOs on television news. In fact, 52 percent of them are trying harder to do just that. There are some challenges especially with the remote access and remote broadcasting. Only 37 percent of them said they felt they had the technical expertise and ability to make sure those executives looked and sounded their best.
So, steps are being taken. The importance of getting on local TV news is growing fast. More important than it’s ever been and clearly PR people are making sure their executives communicate that way.
