TV Promos That Cost Zero, 40 Of Them

At the Promax Station Summit last week in Las Vegas, attendees filled the room for the session Zero Budget Magic, to see how imagination, and little more, is the only currency allowed in spots submitted from stations across the country. Here are all 40 of them.

by Paul Greeley June 26, 2019 10:07 EDT

I’ve never done a column that shared 40 separate videos. Until now. I hope it doesn’t bring down our website. If today’s column takes more time than usual to load, be patient. And you MUST see the last promo. It’s one continuous shot that took 41 takes to get it right. How’d they do it? There’s a video that shows that.

No money, no problem. For many local TV marketers, creating compelling, effective, memorable and sometimes award-winning news promos without spending a dime is the norm. The only investment is creativity.

At the Promax Station Summit last week in Las Vegas, attendees filled the room for the session, Zero Budget Magic, to see how imagination, and little more, is the only currency allowed in spots submitted from stations across the country. A call for submissions was answered with more than 1,800 ads. Here are 40 spots that were deemed worthy of making the grade in Zero Budget Magic.

NOTE: A special thank you to the presenters of Zero Budget Magic, Dan Zimmerman, executive director of marketing for Sinclair; Gloria Lee, VP at ABC Affiliate Marketing; and Marty Iker of Iker Creative for sharing their presentation. There were graphics used to explain the techniques used in some of the spots, buy upon careful consideration, I decided to show just the spots themselves in the order in which they were shown. You can probably figure out whatever it is about the techniques used in their production that made them special.

I do have one question: How do I prevent YouTube from stamping my picture on videos I post?

WBBH, NBC, Ft. Myers, FL