What I Learned Calling Every CSD in the Country

I have been calling every creative services director in the country to introduce myself and tell them that my weekly Market Share column is now a daily blog that will be updated several times during the course of the day. I go to each station’s website, find the main number and call. Here’s what I’ve discovered.

Contacting a local TV station isn’t always easy. The “contact us” info is usually a miniscule link at the bottom of the Web page. Don’t we want viewers to contact us? Aren’t we in the communications business?
On several occasions, I couldn’t find the main phone number no matter how hard I looked. Once, a number listed was disconnected.
Most often, a bubbly receptionist with a local accent and good intentions answers the phone and connects me to the right extension
When I ultimately get through, I get the creative service director’s voice mail. Creative service directors are busy and almost none have answered the phone right when I call.

I leave a message, saying who I am, where I work and the name of the column I write. I always mention that I’m not trying to sell them anything. Some call me back but a surprising number haven’t yet.

If no receptionist answers the phone, I usually get a recorded message voiced by the anchor talent.

“Hi, this is John Smith from NBC 1.” (Or ABC 2, or CBS 17, or Fox 99. Few stations prominently feature their call letters anymore, and those that do tend to be in medium and smaller size markets. And for stations that use their call letters, I often have to search the website to determine its network affiliation, except if it’s a FOX affiliate).

“Your call is important to us because we’re on your side. If you have a breaking news story, press 1 now for the newsroom.”

Very often, I press 1.

In many cases, the newsroom has become the station’s de facto receptionist.  A harried, stressed news person answers as if to say, “WHAT?!”

Sometimes, I let the recording go on, waiting for a better option. Creative services is almost never an option.

The management of local TV stations is largely invisible. There were only a few TV websites that listed the name, title and contact information of the general manager, news director, sales, creative services, etc.
Don’t we want viewers to know who’s in charge?

If I were king, I would make the Contact Us button prominent on the site. On your mobile app, I would make the phone numbers dial-able right there, so if a viewer sees a news story, it’s easy to call. That might make the difference between your station getting the scoop on a story or your competitors.

One creative services director did want me to ask other CSDs around the country this question: How much time are you (not your team, just you) spending in news editorial meetings, and when you are in there, what are you contributing?

Feel free to e-mail or call with your comments. For the record, my contact info is PAUL@NEWSCHECKMEDIA.COM or 817-578-6324.

Speaking of phones, here’s a video of kids reacting to the old-fashioned rotary phones.