One Year Later: The Evolution of Virtual Media Tours

One year of working from home. One year of social distancing. One year of pivoting at every possible turn. One year to reinvent everything we had known before the pandemic. So, as broadcast professionals, what did we learn?

Going Virtual is Possible

The business of producing satellite media tours has always happened in person, IN studios, or in remote locations in the field. So, when all non-essential businesses were closed indefinitely, we wondered how we would produce in-studio tours NOT in studios. Technology allowed us to immediately turn our Satellite Media Tours into Virtual Media Tours, with everyone from talents to producers broadcasting live from their own homes.

Zoom: a Verb or Noun?

Video conferencing technologies have allowed us to remain close to teammates, create virtual green rooms for clients, and provide the perfect means for spokespeople to connect with TV stations. 

Topics Matter

In the initial weeks of the pandemic, stations were devoted to COVID-19 stories. As time went on and everyone saw that we were in it for the long haul, stations welcomed COVID-19 adjacent stories on topics such as working from home, adjusting to remote education, chronic disease amidst COVID, and taking staycations. Within a few months, stations were hungry for lighter lifestyle stories and a much-needed break from all of the unprecedented hard news. And now, as vaccinations roll out, media and consumer attitudes have reflected an increased hope for a return to something resembling “normal,” and stations have begun to book select travel and entertainment segments.

Virtual Interview Booking Benefits

Stay-at-home orders applied to pretty much everyone, including TV news producers and hosts. No longer confined to a tight newsroom schedule, hosts were more flexible with scheduling. Conducting interviews via Zoom instead of via satellite also meant that interviews were less likely to be bumped for breaking news.

Pandemic Booking Challenges

With most of us forced to wear more hats than usual, response time with our station contacts definitely lengthened. As most producers were also at home and juggling personal and family responsibilities, it often took longer to get a response to a pitch. And the few producers who took pitch calls pre-pandemic changed to communicating via email only.

Zoom Camera Ready

For our in-studio SMTs, we’ve always offered best practices for our talents, including everything from what to wear to how to deliver your message naturally while wearing an IFB earpiece and sitting under the bright studio lights. Enter the VMT and the creation of a whole new set of rules! Some top tips for talents now include: find a quiet spot in your home or office, be sure you have a strong internet connection that isn’t being shared by other devices in the home, frame yourself properly, and tidy up your background. And most importantly: never, ever sit in front of a window!

As every aspect of our lives has changed in the last year, so too has the media tour evolved – in 525,600 minutes.