It’s Show Time, Folks: Studio TV Tours vs. Satellite Media Tours

I recently blogged on the top four questions people ask me about using Satellite Media Tours (SMTs) for product promotion. Today I’ll add a fifth:  How does an SMT differ from an in-studio media tour?

In-studio product promotional tours are just that – on site, in person, in TV studios in several cities. The company organizing the tour will solicit the products and hire the presenter, usually a product expert from print or online media, or a known face from a soap, talk show or reality program.

A typical tour will involve 10 appearances, but could involve as many as 30. If you can find a tour that costs $10,000 for ten in-studio appearances, you should consider that a good deal, as you will often see 10 for $12,000 or $15,000. A mini-tour might be five appearances for $5,000, but those are harder to find.

The cost will increase based on the number of appearances, the TV shows involved and the markets in which the show appears. A tour involving the most popular morning shows in the top Designated Market Areas (DMAs) is going to cost more than a tour involving third-tier markets.

One thing that’s critical is to have a guarantee on the number of products to be shown — you want a limit of 4-6, but some companies might try to cram in as many as 10. The on-camera segment generally offers the visiting expert only a few minutes to demo products for the show host, so the more products shown, the less time to discuss them individually.

While your product has the potential to show on many more outlets via an SMT than via an in-studio tour, satellite appearances can get canceled at the last minute due to breaking news, or the recording may languish before it’s used. Because in-studio tours involve the expert on-site in the Green Room, the segment will generally proceed as scheduled.

Some of the same companies that organize SMTs also organize in-studio tours — Circle F Media, for example. Left Coast Media handles the in-studio tours for Diana Forbes, a/k/a “Gadget Grrl.” Gadget author Steve Greenberg also organizes an in-studio tour every few months.

What’s your experience with in-studio TV tours?

Photo credit: Library of Virginia via flickr