How to Save your Pitch From the Garbage Can with Seattle’s “New Day”

Last month I had a party on the calendar in Seattle and I thought I’d make a day of it interviewing Seattle press on my way. After all, this major metropolitan market is only three hours north of us. I’m sure many of you are already pitching Seattle press for clients that may, or may not, be based in Portland. Maybe you are not even in Portland yourself.

I was surprised, relieved and even a bit caught off guard to discover Seattle’s press scene to be just as warm as Portland’s. Possibly I was a little intimidated to take the podcast out of my own backyard, not that we haven’t landed press in Seattle before, but I hadn’t ventured my itty-bitty little podcast out very far. My outreach turned into a complete “press jag,” a term I’m using to communicate the binge aspect of how Veracity does press. I was able to book the entire day with back-to-back interviews which will be released over the next few months.

The first episode within this Seattle “press jag” is a double interview with Su Ring and Joseph Suttner, segment producers of the entertainment and lifestyle show, New Day Northwest (New Day) for King5, Seattle’s NBC affiliate. They produce most of the show’s six segments each day. Airing four times per week, that’s 24 weekly segments and a lot of moving parts.

New Day is “live to tape” — which means they tape in one take without editing. Aside from quickly lifting out the occasional F-bomb, editing the show isn’t an option because it airs almost immediately after its taped. In explaining the show, Joseph said it has more of an “Oprah” vibe rather than an “Ellen” vibe, interspersing cooking and entertainment with more serious, topical segments. A mixture of entertainers, athletes, authors, chefs, and cause-related spokespeople are highlighted. About 30 percent of the segments are sponsored, meaning the organizations have paid for their air-time.  

The Differences Between News and Lifestyle Shows

Since they both worked in fast-and-furious news departments before joining New Day, I thought I’d examine the differences between hard-hitting news and lifestyle shows. Su worked in King5’s newsroom for 14 years before taking a break to write a fiction romance about heavy metal band groupies called “Steel Goddesses” under an assumed name (Ann C Brant), available on Amazon. And Joseph worked in the news departments of both KXLY radio and King5 before joining New Day.

While maintaining a grueling, fast-paced clip, they both said that working in news is actually easier because news is always happening. Guaranteed content. The newsroom staff works in the present, meeting the deadline of that day’s newscast. They aren’t necessarily worried about tomorrow’s content until tomorrow comes. Whereas you’re always planning for the future at a lifestyle show like New Day. While it’s more fun because they get to choose what they’ll cover, both Joseph and Su think it’s actually more stressful.

Lightening the Segment Planning Load

Understanding more about New Day will help empower PR people to lighten the load for producers like Joseph and Su. While Joseph admits that many of the PR pitches are garbage, “I couldn’t do this job if it weren’t for PR people sending me ideas.” As soon as they walk in the door at 8 a.m., they are greeted with a blast of multiple PR pitches, most of them generic and unrelated to their coverage area.

Here’s how you can save your pitch from the garbage can:

• Research the show. Get an idea of what they cover and how they go about it. It’s a visual talk show with sit-down interviews lasting 5 – 7 minutes each. Think about what would actually work for this format.
• Provide visuals to help support the story. Photos, links to video or even props that you would actually bring in.
• Do you believe your story idea would be interesting to watch? If the answer is no, save the story and your PR reputation for a more appropriate medium, like print.
• Get on their radar ASAP. Once you have a “press release” ready, send it as far ahead as possible, 6 – 4 weeks is ideal. If you are pushing up against the 2-week mark, you’re quickly losing the opportunity because their shows must be filled one week ahead.
• I cringed at the idea of sending a “press release” to TV but Su said that as long as it incorporates the who (interviewee), what, where, when and why quickly up front it can work.
• Don’t send automated releases. Augment your email slightly to appear that it’s been changed a bit for them.
• Ensure that your story idea is fully contained. Bring your own models for fashion segments. Bring your own food and utensils for cooking segments. These examples also point to the visual aspect as well. Rather than talking about the food, a chef cooks the food. Rather than talking about the clothes, models display the clothes.

An Opportunity in Attendance

Another opportunity to keep in mind is that New Day’s audience coordinator organizes daily audiences of up to 25 in attendance. This is a great opportunity for groups, especially nonprofits, that want a quick shout-out on-air or for product giveaways. You could even pair an interview with a product giveaway to drive home the message. Things like beauty products, food, gift cards, clothes and more are given to the audience while also being mentioned on-air.

Slant Pitches Toward the Emerald City

While a little more than half of New Day’s coverage focuses on Seattle-based topics, the rest of the interviews are celebrities like musicians and authors coming through town. However, these interviewees are in Seattle doing something for the local community so it seems that there is a local slant. Therefore, you’ll have to search for some sort of Emerald City angle to make your pitch stand out. Perhaps your interviewee is in town for a speaking engagement? Or maybe your product released a new version for Seattleites? Are your services being customized for this market? Go on New Day and talk about it!

Getting Ahold of New Day

The time to connect with New Day, or any television show, is NOT when they are in their crunch time right before the show and especially NOT during the show. Arriving at work at 8 a.m., Su and Joseph are completely focused on getting that day’s show ready. They begin taping at 10 a.m. so this would be the absolute worst time to connect. They are done taping the show around 11:30 – 11:45 a.m. at which point they attempt to scarf down lunch while culling through their mountainous in-box and meeting with each other to discuss the next day’s show. A good time to call is probably after this lunchtime breather.

When creating your New Day pitch, put in the necessary time and effort. Be sure to think of the message, the right time to connect, the emphasis on Seattle, and your audience. Garbage pitches are surface level content, New Day pitches are well-thought out, timely and researched. After all you don’t want your pitch in the trash can.

This episode of PR Talk is brought to you by PRSA Oregon

Throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, PRSA provides members with networking, mentorship, skill building and professional development opportunities – whether you are a new professional fresh out of college or a skilled expert with 20 years in the industry. Check out PRSAoregon.org for more information on how membership can help you grow and connect.

PR Talk is sponsored by monday

The PR Talk crew hadn’t chatted with anyone working in radio for a while, so Amy and I jumped at the opportunity to interview Corey Foley and Mitch Elliot from KINK FM. “The Pair with the Hair,” as I like to call them just made up in my head, run KINK’s weekday morning show from 5:30 a.m. – 10 a.m., spinning their favorite jams and offering a rundown of the day’s news. Only teaming up this past May, Corey and Mitch’s morning show is new to the KINK schedule — their seamless chemistry a testament to both of their personalities, as well as to KINK’s production team for making the match.

I met Mitch in August at the Real Men Wear Pink kickoff party, and instantly gravitated to the jovial guy with the golden, bass-laden voice. As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month every October, the American Cancer Society runs a fundraising initiative called Real Men Wear Pink to get men in the community more involved in breast cancer initiatives. I’m thrilled to be part of this engaged group of guys who are raising awareness and money for men and women affected by the pervasive disease. We’ve gotten a head start on fundraising, but Mitch, myself and the rest of Portland’s “Real Men” will be suiting up in pink throughout the month of October, as well as participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on the 14^th.

Visit my portal if you’re interested in making a contribution to my fundraising efforts — my sincerest gratitude to you! Alright, let’s get into the show.

Corey and Mitch immediately made us feel welcome in the KINK studio. This responsive attitude isn’t reserved just for us, though — the duo will reply to everyone who sends them a message, no matter the medium! Connecting to the listenership is goal number one for Corey and Mitch, and they acknowledge the challenge they’re up against.

“You can get music anywhere… you don’t listen to your favorite radio station to get your news anymore… what we want to give you is something you can’t get anywhere else,” Corey said.

8 Seconds to Win Us Over

Corey and Mitch better serve up their message quickly — their coaches stress that they only have eight seconds to captivate radio channel surfers before they turn the dial. This results in a great deal of nonverbal communication between the pair and reliance on keen broadcasting instincts. You can hear this in the interview — Corey and Mitch are absolute pros at getting a message across rapidly, but eloquently.

Interviews are Dead

On-air interviews with authors, or even someone famous, are a thing of the past on anything but news or talk radio these days. Remember: eight seconds. There is no time for drawn out interviews! However, Corey & Mitch will still “pass your news on” if it’s deemed audience-worthy. This means they will let listeners know what’s going on with your news themselves through a quick, on-air blurb. They just won’t interview anyone anymore.

Promotions Directors Are Kings & Queens

If there’s an event (concert, book signing, or otherwise) you’re trying to promote, don’t send all of the info to the DJs and pester them continuously. Instead, do some homework, find out who the station’s Promotions Director is and figure out something creative with them. Promotions Directors typically plan sales promotions to increase revenue, or program promotions to increase the audience’s time spent listening (TSL). KINK’s Promotions Director is Derek House, so reach out to him if you’ve got something cooking. If you’re pitching music, shoot your pitch over to the Program Director, Sean Demery.

Additional PR Tips

• This is a tried and true tip, but DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! Don’t pitch an author interview when you should know that Corey and Mitch simply will not play along.
• Take a look at “Words We Said” — the Corey & Mitch highlight reel. This will give you a good idea of what they might talk about.
• Sneak in the building.
• Make your subject line as attention-grabbing as possible. Corey and Mitch love salacious titles!

It was a quickie, but Amy and I had a great time talking to Corey and Mitch, and they were fantastic hosts. If you’re looking for a meet-and-greet with them, check out the upcoming performances in the KINK Live Studio, usually followed by a Q&A with the musicians.

Keep an ear to the ground for more information on Real Men Wear Pink and join me at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on October 14!

PR Talk is sponsored by dapulse

This episode of PR Talk is brought to you by PRSA Oregon

Throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, PRSA provides members with networking, mentorship, skill building and professional development opportunities – whether you are a new professional fresh out of college or a skilled expert with 20 years in the industry. Check out PRSAoregon.org for more information on how membership can help you grow and connect.