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As rare as hen’s teeth….we have a couple of vacancies for which we’re looking to recruit immediately, plus we have further plans to expand next year. Do read on….
We have held our Big Talk events for several years, but this was the first time we’ve had an all-radio and an all-female line-up. When it comes to PR stories, whilst many brands would love to find airtime with them, they’re a tough audience to please
The joint founders and owners of Talker Tailor Trouble Maker spoke to Shout! Communications co-founder Catherine Bayfield, on Shout! Digital Radio, earlier this year.
The radio industry has gone through a sea change these last few months, so RAJAR’s (Radio Joint Audience Research) latest audience figures were much anticipated. RAJAR are the official body for measuring the radio audience in the UK and release a quarterly report that details which stations have gained audience and those which have dropped.
The UK’s first radio station, dedicated to all things to do with public relations, recently took to the air, broadcasting online for a day. Shout! Digital Radio featured some of the biggest names in the industry and a programme called “Five At Four” show-cased profile interviews with founders and agency bosses including Sarah Ogden, Head of Corporate Brand at 3 Monkeys Zeno. This is a transcript of some of the highlights from her interview with Shout! Communications Joint Managing Director, Catherine Bayfield:
To OB, or not to OB? That is the question…Whilst many radio days can be completed from the comfort of our lovely Bloomsbury studio, there are some which can benefit from the atmosphere of an outside broadcast (OB).
An OB typically consists of studio equipment which is set up in a remote location, outside of a studio. It means live and pre-recorded interviews can be conducted with more context and atmosphere. Potentially (technology allowing) it can be done from anywhere: an event, a ship-launch, a field…you are only limited by your imagination. So, if you’re tossing up the pros and cons of an OB for an upcoming campaign, this should give you more of an idea of what it’s all about.
With trepidation, and ten seconds to go before the computer clock turned 1100, we pressed “Play” and Shout! Digital Radio was broadcasting. And actually, for the one day we were on-air, it went really well.
All our content for the six hours we broadcast last Friday (12th April, 2019) was pre-recorded and I think that was the right decision. It meant that we could edit down and air the very best content from the amazing line-up of speakers who joined us. I have a background as a radio and television journalist, which involved umpteen (sometimes heart-stopping) live broadcasts; but, for Shout! Digital Radio, there was reassurance in knowing all the interviewees were there – no one was going to be lost because of technology or on account of them going to our old studio address!
On Friday 12th April, 2019, Shout! Communications is running its own radio station. We’ll be broadcasting online and talking about PR – with a special nod to broadcast PR, of course. How the sector promotes itself, the extent to which Brexit is affecting the industry and the big shake-ups that have taken place in radio so far this year, are just some of the topics that will be hitting the air-waves.
The gender pay gap, HeForShe and #MeToo have pushed gender parity to the forefront of 21st century societal changes. Broadcast by definition includes the widest possible audiences; it, therefore, plays a unique and important role in this gender revolution. TV and radio have a particular responsibility to accurately represent society, both in terms of who appears on our airwaves, and with the journalists who put the programmes together.
As much air-time as you desire and as many brand mentions as you can fit in….just a couple of the advantages of launching your own radio station. And that’s not as far fetched as it sounds. For a modest budget and a bit of effort any organisation or individual can “own” some of the airways as part of a dedicated broadcast PR campaign.
There is no denying podcasts have taken the world by storm in a scarily short amount of time. It’s crazy to think around 6 million UK adults are tuning in to podcasts every week. That’s a number that’s almost doubled in five years (from 3.2 million in 2013) according to the latest Ofcom figures.
The main headlines see the total reach drop more significantly in London over the past 12 months than across the rest of the UK. Total UK radio audiences were down 0.9% in Q4/18 compared with Q4/17. In the capital the drop was 3.9% – with some stations losing hundreds of thousands of listeners. Regardless of this, 88% of the population listen to the radio at some point each week (48.4 million people).
And just like that, January 2019 and all the broadcast PR campaigns about health and resolutions, has come to an end – over in a flash (or maybe not for those whose month has been drier than others). February often seems quite frantic and by March, ordinarily, the year has found its regular pace. Not this year though….
Netflix- the streaming giant has long been untouchable and on its own in the streaming market, with its main competitors unable to get close in terms of numbers and dominance of the market. The company recently announced that its year end subscribers total 139 million, and estimates it now has 10% of all screen time in the US. But is 2019 the year that it’s competitors up their game?
It’s been described by some journalists as “the dark art” and by disgruntled PR’s as an industry struggling to adjust, a profession which has many health issues and doesn’t like to self diagnose. It’s good to take a peak behind the PR curtain and as a PR practitioner I’m disappointed to see so much negativity and confusion about who we are and what we do.
Christmas videos: you either love them or hate them. From Reuniting loved ones to a ‘wrapping’ Santa. We list some of our favourite corporate/ business Christmas videos for 2018.
We now know who the winner of “I’m A Celeb” is, but what happens next? Who is going to be hitting the screens and soundwaves with the PR pound behind them? As you may have seen on Sunday, Harry Redknapp was crowned king of the jungle, replacing his predecessor Georgia “Toff” Toffolo.
The latest speaker in our long running series of Small Talks was Scott Beasley, Assistant Editor for Sky News’ “Ian King Live” programme. The FTSE 100, macro economics, interest rates, smaller companies, technology and interesting characters are just some of the topics that float the “Ian King Live” boat.
This year’s “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” is the most popular series to date, based on viewing figures, in the show’s 18-year history. But why is this group doing so well and why is watching celebrities eating fish eyes so entertaining?
Broadcast PR. You hear us talk about it a lot- after all it’s what we live and breathe- but do you know what it actually is?
Keren will appear on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow- she takes some leaves out of her own media training book in preparation!
If you’ve ever been ‘ghosted’ by a date, then you’ll know how awful it feels and how it leaves you questioning what you may have done wrong. If you’ve experienced ‘ghosting’ in a professional sense, then you’ll also know that hurts too! This week, we delve into the issue of what we’re calling “professional ghosting” and the way it could come back to haunt you. Chances are, you too know of a few professional ghosters…
By Kate Fallis, Broadcast PR Consultant
Securing overseas coverage for clients is becoming much more prevalent and often the icing on the cake off the back of a successful UK campaign. Many clients have an EMEA and global brief too and selling in to international broadcasters is increasingly a requirement.
by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant
Much like comparing TV to radio, some stories simply aren’t made for everything. If you’ve got a story with a visual aspect then TV will, naturally, be more appropriate than radio. However, if your campaign is based on spreading information to the masses using spokespeople and statistics, then radio will be the way to go.
By Kate Fallis, Broadcast PR Consultant
We recently had the pleasure of hosting Jim Grice, Head of News and Current Affairs at London Live, at Shout! Communications for a ‘Small Talk’. As a regional and national media veteran, we knew Jim’s insights would be invaluable to us and our guests, so we’d like to share them with those of you who weren’t there.
By Keren Haynes, Co-Director
At Shout! Communications we don’t think broadcast PR IS separate from “mainstream” PR, and it has always amazed us that there are those in the industry who think it is anything other than an integral part of any campaign.
by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director
BBC News likes certainty but needs change…that was the premise of the latest Shout! Communications’ Big Talk, featuring a prestigious panel of speakers including BBC UK News Editor Richard Burgess, Editor of the Victoria Derbyshire Programme Louisa Compton and Editor of BBC News at 6pm and 10pm, Paul Royall.
By Arthur Perkins, Broadcast PR Consultant
The latest RAJAR figures are out and it looks like good news for breakfast shows. For those of you not in the know, RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and it’s the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK; the organisation is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre, on behalf of the commercial sector.
by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director
It is often seen as the icing on the cake or an expensive add-on, but including broadcast PR in a new business proposal isn’t as challenging as you might think.
By Arthur Perkins, Broadcast PR Consultant
In the latest installment of our Shout! Communications Small Talks, on Thursday 7th December 2017 we were delighted to host Chiyo Robertson, Editor of BBC World News TV Business Programming.
Alex Hesketh looks into the recent trend of ‘punking’ guests live on air, which has moved broadcast interviewing into the social media age.
Clients will always want national coverage, and while national radio is clearly a great get, there are also other ways to reach your target audience.
The podcast is back with a bang. Here’s how it came back to life, and why you should consider as your next broadcast PR venture.
In the world of PR we all strive for success. But what do we mean by success? As they say one person’s drink is another person’s poison….and success can mean different things to different people.
Gone are the days when families gathered round the TV to watch the news. Why would you? Unless it’s breaking news, you’ve already seen the story.
Free Workshops, Courses, and Media Training for PR Professionals. Take a look!
2016 has been a year of nationalist resurgence. Borders, immigration and ‘post-truth’ are the new media buzzwords of the year; they’re inescapable. The BBC World Service’s announcement that it will be making the biggest expansion “since the 1940s”, launching 11 new languages, has made a refreshing change.
You’ve managed to secure a brilliant celebrity spokesperson for your PR campaign, but what next? If you are struggling to think of how to get the best results here are a few of Shout!’s top tips.
Shout! gives its recommendations for the top ten filming locations in London.
Ensure you maximise your chances of gaining broadcast pr coverage by keeping up to date with changing newsrooms in 2015
Find out how to create video for PR that will go viral and be shared by your target audience.
The Evening Standard’s new TV channel London Live will be launching on March 31, and it’s being hyped as one of the most important launches in the UK.
Shout! spent a week by the sea in Southampton to help secure coverage for Princess Cruises as they launched their new ship Royal Princess. All cruise ships have a Godmother, and Royal Princess was officially named by the Duchess of Cambridge, who cut the rope to break the traditional bottle of champagne on the ship’s hull.