The Summer News Cycle -- Season Finale Edition!
Don't let this guy steal your summer PR thunder
We interrupt your regularly scheduled reading of The Sounding Board (a.k.a., “Jonathan’s Blog”) to address something that’s on the minds of just about everyone these days.
I’m writing, of course, about TV season finales.
As many of you know, May is the month when television wraps up its regular season with an inordinate number of weddings, deaths, and cliffhangers galore. Some of the biggest TV episodes of the year happen during the month of May (it’s a “sweeps month,” you know), leading into the doldrums of lame reality shows featuring things like dog walkers and Joe Jonas.
In that sense TV is kind of like public relations. Things, as a rule, slow down a bit in the summer and pick up again in the fall when the next batch of new episodes arrives (or, in our case, vacations end and the fall trade shows kick in). News releases seem to appear a little less frequently, for example. And the news cycle, as a rule, seems to turn just a bit more slowly.
But much like cable TV networks enjoy a summer renaissance by filling the void left by the major networks’ hot weather dreck, I would argue that the summer is, in some respects, the perfect time to get news out. Consider, for example, that there tends to be less noise – less competition – for news during the dog days. In that sense, it can, in many instances, be easier for news to be recognized and acknowledged in times that are slow. Reporters and bloggers are seeking stuff to write about, maybe more so than other, more information-intense times.
Of course, we all need to take vacations now and then, and summer is obviously a preferred time for many. Just don’t assume your news needs to go on vacation, though, simply because the days are muggy and there’s nothing on TV except Duets. Start looking at the summer time like USA Network does – a chance to launch new things, and get them noticed.
Image courtesy CBS and Raquel Productions