pr writing ch 9 radio tv
TRANSCRIPT
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Writing for Radio and Television
Chapter 9
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Radio and TVs Importance
PR values radio and televisions mass and specializedaudiences
Radio reaches 94 percent of adults 18+ daily; totalaudience about 225 million
Radio particularly strong among Hispanics, the U.S.s
largest and fastest growing minority Teenagers are also big listeners of radio, primarily
through online sites A 2008 study found that college grads aged 25-54 listen
to the radio almost 16 hours a week; non-college grads
listen 21 hours a week 33 million Americans 12+ listen to a radio station over
the Internet during the average week Local television attracts about 150 million Americans on
a daily basis and the average U.S. family still spends
about 7 hours daily watching TV, according to NAB
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PR Access to Radio and TV
Writing and preparing materials for broadcastoutlets require a special perspective
Must understand how to write for the ear
How to integrate audio and visual elements intoa script
How to harness the power of satellite and digital
communications to conduct media tours that canreach a global audience
How to get spokespeople on broadcastprograms
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Radios Strengths
While radio may lack the glamour of TV and thepopularity of the Internet it is, especially on thelocal level, a cost-effective way to reach largenumbers of people in various age, ethnic, andincome groups
Radio remains the only mass medium that canreach millions of Americans as they commute toand from work and elsewhere in their cars
Its portability, due to transistors, expands radiosreach to workers on the job, people doingexercise, people working in yards, at the beach
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Study the Stations
A PR pro should study each stations format and submitmaterial suitable to it
Determine the demographics of a station by listening toit, by consulting radio directories or by contacting the
stations advertising/marketing departments Resources include Radio Marketing Guide and Fact
Book for Advertisers, Bacons Media Directories andBroadcasting Yearbook
Charlestons Television Market
U.S. Television Markets
Charlestons Radio Market
Charleston Radio Ratings (Arbitron)
http://www.stationindex.com/tv/markets/Charleston,+SChttp://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-marketshttp://www.ontheradio.net/metro/charleston_sc.aspxhttp://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb231http://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb231http://www.ontheradio.net/metro/charleston_sc.aspxhttp://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-marketshttp://www.stationindex.com/tv/markets/Charleston,+SC -
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Radio News Releases
Radio station staffs often have to rewriteprint releases to conform to bcast style
But the most effective approach is to send
news releases that are formatted for themedium
Radio is based on sound so every release
must be written so that it can be easilyread by an announcer and clearlyunderstood by a listener
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Radio News Release Characteristics
Standard practice is to write a radio release using alluppercase letters in a double-spaced format
Also give the length Example: RADIOANNOUNCEMENT: 30 seconds (or :30)
The timing is vital because broadcasters fit theirmessages into a rigid time frame that is measured downto the second
Writing is more conversational, can be OK to haveincomplete or partial sentences as you would in normalconversation
Radio releases can be emailed, faxed, mailed See Radio News Release example on p. 211 See tips, How to Write a Radio News Release on page
212
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Audio News Releases
A more effective approach is to send a station arecording of the news announcement
An ANR can consist of someone reading the 15,
30 or 60 seconds of copy or it can havesomeone reading plus one or more soundbitesfrom, say, a satisfied customer, a celebrity, or acompany official or spokesperson
The second way gives station staff the option ofjust using the entire recording or just thesoundbite(s)
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ANR Steps
Production- process starts with a carefullywritten and accurately timed script; then recordthe words; make sure sound quality is the best itcan be; add music, effects
Delivery- in a survey of 305 news-talk stations,75 percent preferred to receive emailnotifications about ANRs, 20 percent wanted tobe notified via news network feeds and 10percent preferred fax notifications. Radiostations prefer to receive actualities by phone.They can also be delivered via satellitenetworks, CDs, and MP3 formats
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ANR Use
ANRs are considered a bargain compared to producingmaterial for television (p.214 examples)
Important to monitor usagemany organizations send areturn postcard on which the station can report use (low
response rate); can also call to ask if and how manytimes ANR used, then use Arbitron ratings to determinethe estimated audience
Monitoring services can scan radio and TV stations inmajor markets and give a report within 24 hours of
something being aired See ANR writing example, p. 213
More on ANRs
News Generation, Inc. website
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Audio_news_releaseshttp://www.newsgeneration.com/http://www.newsgeneration.com/http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Audio_news_releases -
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Success in Radio/TV Story Placement
Topicality news is aboutissues that matter to themajority of listeners andviewers
Timeliness- strive fornow, today, tomorrow
not yesterday in stories
LocalizationIf its not
local, its probably notnews
Humanization- Show andtell how real people areaffected
Visual Appeal- Providevibrant, compellingsoundbites or videofootage that subtlypromotes, but also
illustrates and explains
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Public Service Announcements
PSAs are another category of material that PR writersprepare for radio and TV stations and networks
Defined by the FCC as an unpaid announcement thatpromotes the programs of government or nonprofitagencies or that serve the public interest
As part of their responsibility to serve the public interest,radio and TV stations provide airtime to charitable andcivic organizations, although there is no longer a legalrequirement to do so
A 2008 survey found that less than 1 percent of air timeis dedicated to PSAs. As a result, some nonprofitsnegotiate with stations to actually buy time to ensuretheir PSAs are aired
Sample Television PSA (anti-smoking)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhMT5VWB99Qhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhMT5VWB99Qhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhMT5VWB99Qhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhMT5VWB99Q -
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PSA Topics
Local communityissues and events
Childrens issues
Health
Safety
Service organizations
Breast cancerOther cancers and
diseases
2008 study confirmstopics:Health- 26 percent
Fundraising- 23 percentFamily and social
concerns- 12 percent
Community
organizations andevents- 8 percent
Volunteerism- 6 percent
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TVs Irresistible Appeal
Televisions visual element sets it apart from othermedia the combination of color, movement, sound, andsight on a screen in your own living room is hard to resist
TV remains the primary source of news, information, and
entertainment for most people Local TV news attracts 150 million viewers daily; network
news reaches 30 million; prime-time national cable, 3million; and regional cable, 31 million
Network News Ratings Up
PR people should understand and keep up with ratings
TV/Cable Ratings
Zap2it.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/network-evening-news-rati_n_896883.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/network-evening-news-rati_n_896883.htmlhttp://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2007/09/01/all-our-charts/896/http://www.zap2it.com/http://www.zap2it.com/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2007/09/01/all-our-charts/896/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/network-evening-news-rati_n_896883.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/network-evening-news-rati_n_896883.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/network-evening-news-rati_n_896883.html -
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TV Station Organization-Whos Who(page 223)
General manager
Program director
Producers and
director
News Director
Assignment Editor
Reporters
Videographers
Public affairs or public
service director
Promotion director
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Getting Attention from TelevisionFour Approaches
Send same newsreleases you sendnewspapers
Prepare a media alertor advisory, stressingthe strong visualappeal of the story or
event
Phone or email theassignment editor orprogram producer to
make a pitch tocover a story or haveyour guest on aprogram
Write and produce aVNR video newsrelease
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Video News Releases (VNRs)
VNR is, essentially, a television releaseconverted to a finished tape (digital file) that canbe broadcast
The standard length is 90 seconds, the length
preferred by the overwhelming majority of TVnews directors
VNRS are much more expensive to producethan ANRs on average $20,000 to $50,000 for
production and distribution So youve got to decide if the cost is worth theresults you may (or may not) achieve
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VNR Disaster Prevention
Use outside experts to give credibility A VNRwith only corporate spokespeople is not a goodidea.
Dont clutter with excessive number of corporatelogos
Avoid commercialism and hype- a VNR is anews story, not a corporate ad
Avoid overproduction- slick dissolves and flashyeffects are great for music videos, but newsproducers equate it with advertising
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TV/Video Jargon/Lingo
A-roll
B-roll
CU
Dub
On cam
Pan
SOT
Super
V/O
VO/SOT
PKG
Zoom
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Fake News Controversy
TV watchdog groups have complained tothe FCC that stations using VNR contentwithout telling viewers the original source
are presenting fake news
At issue is whether PR firms and VNRproducers are adequately labeling VNR
packages with the sponsor and the client
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Satellite Media Tours (SMTs)
SMTs are widely used in the broadcast industry SMTs are essentially a series of prebooked,
one-on-one interviews from a fixed location viasatellite with a series of TV journalists and/or talk
show hosts SMTs can be used by CEOs, celebrities, sports
figures, authors and others Is a time-efficient (but expensive for satellite
time) way of giving interviews See Best Buy SMT example (p. 236) See Guidelines for a Successful SMT (p. 237)
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Scripting Audio News ReleasesCompany Letterhead(company address, phone, website, etc)
Audio News Release Contact InfoTopic: Flu Shots (like news release)
Length: :30
Script: (write in all caps and double-space)PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR LOVED ONES THIS FLU SEASON. MORE INFLUENZA
VACCINE IS AVAILABLE THAN EVER BEFORE. TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR NOW ABOUT
IMMUNIZATION.
Soundbite :10 Dr. Andrew Remedy/ CDC Influenza Director
Incue: Flue shots are.. (for your ANR, write out entire soundbite)
Outcue: free of charge
THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR INFECTIOUS
DISEASES.
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