Why you should consider broadcast media in your PR strategy
With decades of experience delivering successful PR campaigns across multiple industries, including pet, hospitality, home and property, and leisure, we know a thing or two about how to land PR coverage that cuts through the noise.
When it comes to developing your brand’s PR strategy, it’s important to understand what you’re trying to achieve with PR before deciding the best approach.
Whether you’re trying to raise brand awareness, boost website traffic or drive sales, focusing on broadcast media is one of the best ways to take your brand’s PR activity to the next level.
What is broadcast media?
Broadcast media includes stories, information and content that is distributed via TV, radio and in recent years, podcasts.
In comparison to traditional print media, broadcast media delivers audio and video content at a regional, national and even an international level.
Despite its strong presence, the rise of social media has had a knock-on effect on the popularity of broadcast media. Thanks to digestible content formats such as reels and TikToks, content can be produced and distributed in multiple ways — meaning broadcasters can reach more people by engaging them through their preferred method of news consumption.
So, why consider broadcast media in your PR strategy?
The power of broadcast media lies in the scale of their audiences — at any time, millions of people can tune into a TV, radio, or podcast station, whether that’s live or on-demand, providing the ideal opportunity to put your brand in front of masses of people.
According to Statista, in 2023 the average time spent per individual watching broadcast television in the UK amounted to just over 2.5 hours per day, averaging to around 17.5 hours per week.
Latest reports from Ofcom show that radio listening has hit a 20 year high — with just under 50 million people tuning into radio stations on weekly basis in the first quarter of 2024 – and listening time is also up to an average of 20.5 hours per week.
Podcasts are now one of the most popular sources of news and entertainment and according to Statista, podcast listenership in the UK has been increasing year on year, reaching an estimated 21.2 million listeners in 2022.
The data speaks for itself — broadcast continues to dominate the media landscape by offering audiences convenient, engaging content to consume at their leisure.
By landing broadcast coverage, you can reach millions of people, raising awareness of your brand and depending on the story, potentially boosting website traffic, social media engagement – or even driving sales.
Our top tips for getting started with broadcast media
Whilst it may seem like a huge task to get your brand broadcast-ready, there are some simple things you can do to prepare for upcoming broadcast opportunities:
Identify key spokespeople: Think about who in your business is most qualified to talk to journalists about the brand, its products, and its mission. Prepare a list of these people, their job titles, and the topics they can talk to journalists about, so you have this ready to share with producers and planning desks.
Book in media training: If you’re not used to it, talking to journalists can be a little daunting. Media training is a great way to get your spokespeople feeling confident with broadcast interviews, offering an insight into how this works and some tips for how to manage media questioning.
Curate a broadcast package: One of the best ways to ensure your story lands with broadcast media is to do the leg work for them. With journalists spread out all over the country, it can be difficult to secure opportunities where journalists will come to you. So, by investing in your brand’s media production and creating slick packages of b-roll footage and imagery, and offering great spokespeople opportunities, you will increase your chances of landing broadcast coverage.
Need help navigating the world of broadcast media? Get in touch with our team of PR experts here at Leopard Co and check out our case studies to see how we’ve put brands like Twycross Zoo, Bristan and Eat Drink Meet on the map through PR.