How to Get Your Client or Book on CNBC, Huffington Post Live, The Chew, and Better TV
Left to right: Kristen Scholer from CNBC, Sira Sky from Huffington Post Live, Tracy Langer Chevrier from The Better Show, and Jevon Bruh from The Chew.
At the September 2013 PRSANY Meet the Media panel producers from CNBC, Huffington Post Live, Better TV, and The Chew provided insight on the best ways to get your client on their networks and shows.
Appearing on the panel:
Shira Sky, Huffington Post Live
Jevon Bruh, “The Chew” (ABC-TV)
Tracy Langer Chevrier, Better TV
The best way to get to Kristen Scholer from CNBC is an e-mail with attention grabbing headline and include two to three bullet points in the body of the email supporting the headline and any video/photos is helpful. A great pitch Kristen received included the headline with bullet points and the person pitching knew the demographics, but a two page press release will not be seen. If you do not receive a response from Kristen send a second email as well as leaving a phone message. Pitching a story through social media also catches her attention. The appropriate CNBC guest is an expert and knows what he/she are talking about. In terms of exclusivity CNBC has two standards: first on and best. So if Jamie Diamond may be a big guest but if he appears on Bloomberg first we will pass since the announcement has already been made, but there is no time limit for repeat guests that have something interesting to say. You can email Kristen kristen.scholer@nbcuni.com and follow on Twitter: @KristenScholer.
The best way to pitch Shira Sky from Huffington Post Live is e-mail with the headline in the subject line and video links of past appearances. Shira recommends to do your homework about Huffington Post Live and much of the content ends up on the Huffington Post and AOL websites. Huffington Post Live has weekly pitch meetings and if you pitch to her and Shira does not make the decision she will run the idea by an executive producer. Repeat guests appear after eight months for experts but it is great to have new people and different faces. Lead time to book is four to six weeks in advance, but Huffington Post Live can quickly put guests on and does not need to be in the studio since they use WebCams. You can email Shira Sky shira.sky@huffingtonpost.com and follow on Twitter: @shirasky.
As The Chew on ABC enters their third season with 220 episodes taped per year e-mail is the best way for Jevon Bruh to receive your pitch. Best to include a link that plays video directly in the email body. Since it is ABC all products must be cleared over many departments and no social media pitches will be accepted. Criteria for guests on The Chew are celebrity chefs and themes tied to food including field pieces such as restaurant openings and food festivals. Jevon recommends doing research on The Chew since one bad pitch wanted to do a couch interview whereas there is no couch on the show. All paid integration goes through the sales department. There is an eight month time for repeat guests, but some guests have returned as co-hosts. Since The Chew shoots every Tuesday through Thursday all pitches go through Jevon as she decides which senior producer will fit into the segment. The chew.com is the most visited website on ABC and in the future they will be creating exclusive web content for segments that do not make it onto the air.
Tracy Langer Chavier can be reached through e-mail pitches and include links to any shows you or your client have done so she can see them in action. At Better TV the theme is cooking, health and wellness so include before and after photos/videos that may show weight loss. Some of the worst e-mails Tracy has received look like spam/mass emailing to anyone whereas the best she gets saying this person would be a great guest/topic since I you are covering a specific topic/theme for the month such as diabetes, etc. Better TV allows paid spokespeople but they have to be a celebrity and a celebrity we like. One sponsor wanted to do a paid segment where the guest was doing a cooking demonstration mentioning their product with the product on set but Better TV only does paid integration and has to be organic, discreet. There is no minimum time limit for repeat guests so if we like someone such as author Nicholas Sparks who is able to put out new books quickly and is a great guest. You can follow Tracy Langer Chavier on Twitter: @TracyChevrier.
You may also be interested in these posts:
How to Get the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek to Cover Your Story, Book, or Guest
How to Get Your Story or Event on New York News Shows
How to Get the Associated Press to Cover Your Story, Book, or Client
How to Get Your Story or Event On Television and Radio Shows
How to Get Your Guest or Book on Rachel Ray and CBS This Morning Saturday
How to Reach and Foster Relationships with Mommy Bloggers
How to Get Your Story, Event or Client on Bloomberg TV
Get Your Products and Stories Featured in Mainstream Magazines
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