TV Publicity

How to Get TV Publicity

by George McKenzie
Former TV Anchor and Radio Talk Show Host

It almost goes without saying that since television is a visual medium, it helps to do something visual.

When I say visual, I mean three things.

People, color, and motion.

People Obviously, the more people you can get together, the better. If you can get a few famous people, that’s best of all (see below).

True, it gives the event more of a sense of importance, but that’s not the only reason it’s helpful.

The more people you have at the scene when a camera crew shows up, the more people will be likely to go home and watch that night. Many of those people might even call their friends and tell them to watch.

TV stations like that A LOT.

Color  When I say there should be color, I’m not talking all the colors of the rainbow. I’m talking about something that’s visually appealing or interesting to look at.

Motion  The people who are there should be doing something. In fact, they should be doing something interesting, if possible.

Think about it. How many news stories have you ever seen where a bunch of folks were just milling around with their hands in their pockets? Pictures like that rarely make their air.

Here’s an example of a great fundraiser that incorporates all of those elements as well as any event I’ve ever seen. Call it The Lipton Dip.

Several years ago, Church’s Chicken franchisee Scott Gross did this one in the parking lot of his restaurant in Kerrville, Texas.

Scott got a local pool company to erect a small aboveground pool, which they filled with water. Scott’s iced tea vendor helped turn the water into a huge vat of tea. A local bank joined in by providing several hundred dollars worth of nickels to dump into the pool. Scott enlisted the help of sororities and fraternities from a nearby college, whose members, on a signal, dove into the pool and started grabbing all the nickels they could. The winning fraternity/sorority got a prize, the charity got a contribution, and Scott--with no cash outlay--got thousands of dollars worth of publicity when several TV stations showed up to cover the contest. Oh-by-the-way, lots of people who attended the event also bought lunch at Scott’s restaurant before they went home.

People, color and motion are big attractions for TV. But there are other techniques you can use which improve your chance of getting observe by watching the air.

Texture or Context When possible, offer the media a story about someone who has benefited from the charity. If you can "humanize" the work the charity is doing, "put a human face on it" so to speak, your chances of getting coverage (that is, publicity), will skyrocket.

Remember, all journalists are in the storytelling business.

Enlist Local Celebrities  It's often a good idea to ask a high profile person from the media to be your honorary chairperson. The better known they are, the more impact they’ll have.

Generally, most media outlets have a community service or a community outreach department of some kind. These departments are generally eager to help because they WANT their news anchors or columnists to get out in the community.

In the case of TV stations, there’s an additional benefit too. Since the station has committed time and effort to cover the event, and because it wants the community to know one of its anchors attended, the story is less likely to be pre-empted by breaking news. If at all possible, the producer will try to find a way to get your story into the newscast.

There is one downside to giving an anchorperson a high profile role in your event, and you should be aware of it. So, while you may get extensive coverage from one station, you may get NO coverage from others. This is a judgment call you’ll have to make.