Looking Ahead To 2020: Mapping Out Your Satellite Media Tour Timing

There may still be a few weeks left to 2019, but it is never too early to start planning for 2020. While you don’t need to map out every campaign, creating an outline, a timeline, and a budget for the upcoming year is imperative. With 2020 being an election year, timing is key when it comes to planning out your satellite media tours (SMTs). While there will always be breaking news factors we cannot predict, there are some notable events and dates that are already on our 2020 calendar. For some, this may mean leveraging a day or event to help communicate your message. But for others, it may simply mean keeping these days in mind when scheduling your SMT. Whatever the case, here’s a handy list for you to bring into your 2020 planning meetings.

Large sporting events: Events such as the Super Bowl, NCAA Playoffs, Olympics, and World Cup draw millions of viewers and therefore receive much airtime and sometimes have affiliates cancelling newscasts to air these events. For some, such as 2020’s Summer Olympics in Japan, time-zone differences may affect regular programming for networks airing the games.

Sweeps: May and November sweeps are consistently a competitive time of year. During sweeps, local television news programs are more selective with the stories they air in an effort to engage their audience and boost their ratings. This doesn’t mean you should avoid conducting an SMT during sweeps. With the right story, spokesperson, and lead-time your segment can be just as successful during this period as any other time of year.

Elections: Elections receive coverage both nationally and locally, especially the upcoming presidential elections. While smaller local elections will garner some regional coverage, the larger election days- think primaries, Super Tuesday and even the debates- will receive the bulk of the media attention, making airtime competitive.

Impeachment proceedings: The wildcard in this year’s calendar - the impeachment inquiry - will undoubtedly be a monumental media event whose duration is unknown. Despite the multiple cable news networks dedicated to providing around the clock coverage, broadcast TV stations nationwide will still be dedicating a significant amount of airtime to the proceedings as well.

ABOUT THE EXPERT: Roxanne Garcia

Roxanne began her career as a production associate in ABC's Longform Documentary Unit and later at MTV Networks. She served at the Assignment Desk team at WNBC in New York before joining MultiVu in 2014. Roxanne holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies from Florida International University and an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School in New York City.