Valley PR Blog

Pitch Me — Scott Davis

By Len Gutman on November 19th, 2007 In ValleySource

Name:     Scott Davis
Title:       Producer, Special Projects
Outlet:    KTVK-TV 3
Phone:    602-207-3459
Email:     scott_davis@azfamily.com

1. What are your main daily duties?
My duties fluctuate between producing the entire 8 p.m. newscast and producing special high-interest stories for the 8 p.m. newscast. This may involve sending reporters and/or photographers out to get a story for me or going out myself to put a story together for an on-air person to present as their own. We have daily story meetings in the mornings and afternoons to determine what we’re going to put in the day’s newscasts. The more interesting things I can bring to the meeting, the better the chances of getting at least one of them on TV that day. I not only have a degree in journalism, but also one in marketing — so I understand how to generate interest and get results. Every newscast I have worked on has increased its ratings because of the kinds of high-interest stories I pursue.

2. What kinds of stories are you looking for?
Our 8 p.m. show is the most unique locally-produced newscast in Phoenix and perhaps even in the country. We don’t cover “hard news” unless it is something HUGE…like wildfires burning up the country. We might lead the show with a UFO sighting, someone who won 30 million dollars in a lottery or the latest big Hollywood celebrity to either visit Arizona OR get busted for DUI. I want the stories that make people gasp. Stories that make them sit up on the couch, eyes glued to the screen. Homicide, car wrecks, politics and health news don’t typically elicit that response. Those stories still come in and of course we cover them because they are traditional “news,” but I ship them off to our station’s other newscasts to cover. I want the stories viewers won’t get anywhere else.

3. What’s the best way to approach you with a pitch?
Email. Email. Email. No one in TV news has lots of time to spend on the phone and many of us sort through our email late at night or early in the morning to prepare for the next day or the next week. Once we have that accomplished, we’re looking for stories that have an impact and are visually exciting. The opening or anniversary of a new bar/club in Scottsdale, for example, is dull. Bartenders can mix all the hot new drinks they want and the décor might be the hippest stuff anyone’s ever seen but where’s the drama? Where’s the excitement? All clubs look like each other on TV. Think personality. Think visual. Think props. Think drama!

4. What recommendations do you have for PR professionals?
First — remember that TV is different from radio, which is different from newspaper. Customize your pitch. It’s insulting when you don’t because it shows that you don’t care. Second and perhaps most important — don’t waste my time. When you have an item to pitch — have what I need, ready to go. Two examples: Last week “Oprah” was doing a couple of shows on OCD and the new mental illness called Hoarding. A PR friend called me up saying she reps an OCD clinic here…and would I like the story? You bet I wanted it! In the first place, just say the word “Oprah” on TV and you’ve got the attention of millions of women. Can’t lose with that kind of tie-in. Second, if you’ve seen a hoarder’s house…you know it’s great TV — people can’t help but keep watching the mess, the bugs, the stuff piled high. Again, it’s great TV to watch. The problem, however, was that the clinic didn’t have any clients willing to be interviewed. Granted, the whole thing came up as a spur-of-the-moment pitch, but it didn’t work out in time. Sorry folks, but simply having the doctor available to talk isn’t enough. However, we’re now working on an OCD/Hoarding story for sometime next year.

This Summer another PR person emailed (points for that!) a business story pitch. A national chain of retail stores was purchased locally and was going to be run from headquarters here in the valley. She offered up the CEO at the corporate office for an interview. My first thought was “Huh? Who cares?” I told her (probably a little too harshly again) that this isn’t a TV-friendly story. A corporate CEO typically is terrible on camera. That’s why people hire out actors to do commercials…they’re trained to be on-camera personalities. CEOs are not. I told her we’d be glad to do the story if their celebrity spokesperson ever came to town or they would be shooting a new commercial in town, etcetera. I needed something exciting to happen on camera for this to be interesting. Two months later, she called again with news that their celebrity spokesman would be here. Voila — we covered it…and covered it so well she sent me (unnecessarily) a nice basket of cookies to share with the newsroom.

5. What’s the strangest/weirdest pitch you’ve ever received?
Having already said that we might lead the show with a UFO report, can anything you might pitch be considered weird? Channel 3 is the most weird-friendly media outlet in town. The weirder, the better…but it had better be visual. BUT – Last week I got a pitch to cover a story related to the California wildfires from October. The story wasn’t about the fires and it wasn’t about the people who lost homes in the fire. It wasn’t about a relief effort or charitable contribution. No, this pitch was for us to promote a book that teaches insurance adjusters and contractors how to approach those whose lives were affected by fires. And it wasn’t even a new book. I considered replying to the email, to let the sender know that we wouldn’t be interested, and that this kind of pitch would have almost zero relevance to our audience. Instead I went “click” right into the “delete” bin.

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