What is a Radio Media Tour?

A Radio Media Tour (RMT) allows someone to do live or taped interviews with radio stations and/or state, regional and national radio networks. We arrange the interviews and they can be conducted anywhere, anyplace, as long as there is a hard phone line available (no cell-phones). Radio Media Tours can be done in one day, over a week, or over a month. Most interviews are relatively brief (about ten minutes in length). Occasionally, they can run a half-hour or longer, if it’s an interview on a talk show as opposed to a live interview with a radio station’s news department or a live interview on an all-news station, for example.

Following are factors to consider when deciding whether an RMT is right for your company or a client:

Advantages:

1. Narrowing in on the just the right audience.  It’s a great way to get a message out to specific, targeted audiences. Radio is a highly segmented form of media and the dozens of different radio formats in existence are designed to reach very distinct audiences such as males, 25-34 or females 25-49. All-news stations, for example, tend to reach older males. Soft-rock stations are better at reaching females. Minority outreach is as simple as booking an African-American station (generally urban formats) or a Spanish-language station. And yes, we do handle Spanish-speaking clients.

2. Allows for length and substance. Especially on syndicated or local talk-shows, radio interviews can be in-depth, giving the client the time to deal with a message in a textured, nuanced way.

3. Keeping a record. Depending on the level of radio tour services a client asks for, each and every interview can be recorded for posterity. Interviews are available via downloadable MP3 audio files or delivered to the client on a CD.

Disadvantages:

1. Lack of total control. Though there are many things that can be done ahead of time to try to ensure the right outlet is chosen for the client and that the right question gets asked, occasionally questions can come from left-field. On a call-in show, a listener can throw a real curve-ball or sometimes the host can pose an awkward or difficult question. For those needing to eliminate such uncertainties, a PSA campaign or an Audio News Release might be more appropriate.