Valley PR Blog

3 quick tips for a 45 second-or-less TV news world

By Dan Wool on November 5th, 2007 In Advice

The run-time for on-air news stories continues to get shorter.  

While I was with a few Valley TV crews Thursday, I learned that while reporters once had 1.5 -3 minutes to report a story, for one Valley station, it’s now 45 seconds or less. 

Sad state of the media aside (I’m in the “acceptance” mode of Kubler Ross at this point), if the Phoenix Suns can do 7 seconds or less, surely winning PR can do 45 seconds or less, right?

Here are three quick takeaways from this:

(1) Have multiple visuals.  The more visuals, the greater the illusion of story length and the more interesting the piece will seem.  Be sure to have a good establishing shot. And if you have a single visual, make sure your subject is moving.

(2) Talk in short sound bites, not jargon.  You don’t have the luxury of time to explain everything.  Use plain language and shorten up your messages.

(3) Get the producers ”Power Bar” info — solid and quickly digestible. Up front, this enables producers to direct reporters/photographers for specific images and information when they arrive on-scene. Also, newsrooms are short-staffed and only have so many trucks to send. If the station just sends a photographer, your news may ultimately be written by a producer or a newsroom reporter who wasn’t there.  Your information should also provide a short and obvious explanation for the “unknown” jumble of images coming at them on the editing bay. 

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