Which Is Better: Radio or Television PR?

Radio PR gives you the opportunity to reach a massive audience.   48 million of us in the UK listen to the medium each and every week.   A successful radio PR campaign is likely to  include a wide variety of stations, BBC and commercial, regional and national.

But that mass audience can be fragmented to suit your needs BBC regional radio, for example, tends to have an older age profile around 45 and upwards,  whilst commercial radio stations often appeal more to a younger audience.   Heart has more female listeners meanwhile, and Radio 5 Live more male.

Radio is an intimate medium. It feels like a conversation, presenter to listener.   In the same way you wouldn’t pull away when you’re chatting to someone, radio is engaging and pulls a listener under its spell.

It’s immediate, which is why people turn to radio when there’s a big breaking news story.   They know they can get the most up to date information, but they also know it will be trusted information.

The intimacy of radio also means the medium is open to all sorts of sensitive subjects, particularly medical and personal ones,  that you might not get coverage for on television.  We’ve had broadcast campaigns talking on everything from dementia and menopause, to marital affairs and erectile dysfunction.

Live radio particularly offers fantastic opportunities for a spokesperson or case study to secure key client messages and solid branding. You might be surprised at the length of the chats which vary from a couple of minutes on a BBC regional breakfast show, to several minutes on BBC shows later in the day, and smaller commercial stations.

Live radio particularly offers fantastic opportunities for a spokesperson or case study to secure key client messages and solid branding. You might be surprised at the length of the chats which vary from a couple of minutes on a BBC regional breakfast show, to several minutes on BBC shows later in the day, and smaller commercial stations.

You know what you’re getting with radio.   We guarantee our coverage, typically a minimum of 10-12 opportunities, 1-2 of which we expect to be nationals, with a reach of a million listeners.  In reality we typically exceed targets, and 17-18 opportunities, with a reach of 3-4 million people, is more likely.

So when you’re weighing up, radio or TV, this is really worth remembering.

Radio is more reliable than TV anyway.   Radio programmes are often 3 hours or longer, so even with a breaking news story, there’s room for manoeuvre.     And the sheer amount of UK radio stations means we’re always going to get to target, no matter how busy the news agenda is. 

PR research works well on radio and is a cost effective way of generating some good content.  It doesn’t work so well on TV which needs pictures to illustrate a story.    A good top line, some regional breakdown which will interest local stations alongside a good spokesperson and you’re ready to go.

A word of warning though – good spokespeople are key for radio as they need to work in messages clearly and succinctly in an entertaining and engaging way. They should be able to paint a picture with words, as well as casually but relevantly drop a brand mention or key message into an answer.

As we mentioned above, radio programmes enjoy a conversation.  Whilst you still need to weave your key messages into any interview, most radio shows want their guests to be chatty – not too long winded, not too short with their answers – and informal.