After gathering the opinions of a who’s who of PR insiders on the “PR’s Top Pros Talk” video interviews, Doug Simon turns the tables this time around and shares his own take on the growing demand for satellite media tours.

One big reason for that growth: “It's become so much harder for organizations to get their spokespeople interviewed on national television, as well as on cable networks.” Because of that, satellite media provides an “increasingly important opportunity for brands to get that coverage, sort of the only game left in town.”

Simon says the diversity of local TV news audiences shows the power of reaching local media markets. “There was a 135 percent growth in viewership among 18-35-year-olds in the past year when the fastest growing segments are African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans,” he says. “The work from home trend has really accelerated that.”

Broadcast producers have also become more open to satellite media tours, a trend that can be attributed at least partly to the pandemic. “Stations, even networks, got used to the idea of interviewing experts remotely, which is what satellite media tours have been all about for all these years.”

He also cites a growing interest and preference for talking to brand spokespeople than than independent experts. “The 62 producers that we surveyed, 92 percent of them are open to interviewing brand spokespeople for a story, and that's the highest we've ever seen it.”

New communications technologies are also having a big effect. “In the old days before the pandemic, most likely they would go to a studio, which was sort of a dry, sterile environment. Now they are able to connect primarily via Zoom to a control room from anywhere. It's authentic, it can be on location, it's efficient.”

Simon also shares some key tips for success. One, make the story relevant to a local audience. Two, provide information that's really going to be helpful to the viewer. Finally, set up the broadcast outlet conducting the interview with questions that let them come across as well-informed. “That will create a cohesive interview that will allow you to share your message in a way that will really resonate with the audience.”

View all of the interviews in the “PR's Top Pros Talk” series. Subscribe to get notified when new episodes are available.

Interested in taking part? Contact Doug Simon at [email protected]

D S Simon Media helps clients get their stories on television through satellite media tours and by producing and distributing content to the media. The company also produces live social media events.