UK TV PR Agency – Broadcast Ready Coverage for Brands

Unlike radio, television is too unpredictable for us to guarantee coverage. News and daytime programming (where you have the best chances of coverage) are time limited and the running order will always give way to organic, breaking news stories.

That said, as former TV journalists ourselves we can give you a very good steer on whether your story is likely to make it on-air. Call it a gut feeling, but when you’ve worked in a TV newsroom and made the decision about whether to take a PR generated story or not, you can normally call it.

Having a strong top line, good visuals and a peg for the story (a reason to run it on a particular day) will dramatically increase your chances.

Despite the perception that it is, our packages offer fantastic value for money.

We understand that every client wants to know they’re getting a good return on their money. For that reason we offer television either as a pay-on-results package, if commissioned alongside another of our services. Or, if you want television as a stand alone service we ask for a modest selling-in fee then charge on a pay-on-results basis, up to an agreed ceiling.

Television, more than any other media, has wide reaching audiences, it brings a story to life and it influences other media too. So, in answer to the question, not for what you get!

Some interviews still happen online, mainly on Zoom – a legacy of the Covid-19. But increasingly television journalists prefer their guests to come into their studios. Studio interviews make for better content, both for broadcasters and PR spokespeople. First of all you have body language to respond too; secondly you generally get given a bit more air-time.

Remember, not all TV studios are in London. BBC breakfast is in Salford, near Manchester and Channel 4 News is in Leeds.

At least a week, but ideally more like 7 or 8 working days. The best route to help get a story on television is to get it on a planning list. TV journalists have lots of lists, and it’s easier to get a story on the weekly list than it is the day before, or on the day ones.

We’d be very lucky if that’s all it took; that’s just the start of the process. As a leading UK television PR agency, we use our extensive network of contacts to speak to producers, editors and correspondents in order to clinch the coverage.

Television is very particular about what you can and can’t do. The BBC must adhere to its Producer Guidelines and is not allowed to give any air-time that might look like an advert. The commercial sector meanwhile has its own advertisers, who don’t want to pay rates just to see another brand get airtime for free.

But obviously brands won’t partake in PR activity if they don’t get anything in return and broadcasters, who now rely on on at least some PR generated content each day, know this. But it’s a fine line to be drawn.

Our guidance is to expect one credit per piece of coverage, which could be visual (perhaps in a graphic or a logo that’s in shot) or audible (mentioned by the newscaster). When we sell in we have this conversation with the journalist at the beginning of the process and, where possible, get the arrangement confirmed in writing.

Television opportunities are hard won so it would be a shame not to make the most of each one you get. Media training teaches you how to combine two things: how to give a journalist the content they want, at the same time as communicating your key messages.

The majority of corporate spokespeople on television ARE media trained. Don’t stand out for the wrong reasons.

The earlier in the day, the better the chances of coverage. That’s because as the day goes on, and the world wakes up, there are more organic stories to compete with. That’s why you’re more likely to get coverage on breakfast shows, such as BBC Breakfast, ITV’s GMB or Sky News Breakfast than evening or late night news.

A large proportion of each breakfast show will be arranged the day before. If an organic story breaks early in the morning another story will be dropped to make way for it – but the chances of this happening are only small.

ITV daytime in particular This Morning and Loose Women love an exclusive and fight hard to secure celebrities and personalities to appear on their shows but agreeing to an exclusive can be a high-risk strategy. This is because if there is a breaking news story or a more high-profile guest offered, they are likely to drop your interview – leaving the brand with no coverage.

For news programmes like BBC Breakfast or Sky News our advice is not to offer an exclusive but to consider offering some exclusive elements a case study or some data which is only available to them. Having a spokesperson that is not readily available to news outlets is another way of bypassing the need for an exclusive. It’s better in our opinion to secure as much potential coverage as possible rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.