When TV/radio talk show guests cancel, hosts need fill-ins

If you’re angling for some free publicity this holiday season on radio or TV talk shows, here’s a tip that I included under the headline “…And Build the Relationship” in Tuesday’s issue of my ezine, “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week.” It generated reponse from several readers.

Contact radio and TV talk show hosts and guest bookers, even big radio shows in the top 20 radio markets, whose programs you want to get onto, and offer to fill in during the holidays if another guest cancels. This tactic works year-round, but it’s particularly effective during the holidays, when guests are in short supply.

Too many people are Christmas shopping, preparing for the holidays, or away on holiday vacation, and TV and radio talk show hosts find it hard enough to find guests. When somebody cancels because of the flu, snowstorms, or another commitment, hosts go into panic mode. 

Gina McNew of the Diva Success Network says she knows what it’s like to have guests cancel:

“I have had two guests contact me in the last couple of days apologizing that they can’t make their radio interviews that have been on the book for months.  I am scrambling like crazy to find replacements!  Hope your Hounds take your tips to heart!

Email Gina if you’d be willing to fill in at the last minute.  

The Rev. Thomas Harrison, who works as a “secret shopper” for churches and who I wrote about in the item “Back Door to the Wall Street Journal” in the October 13 issue of my ezine, reiterated the importance of being a fill-in guest:

“When I ran a TV station and we had guest programs, there was one guest I know I could call as late at 10 p.m. for a 7 a.m. program the next day. He was always available, and thus a favorite of ours.”

Offering to fill in at the last minute is just one of many ways to be a valuable news source the media love.