Guest Post: How I Nailed a Broadcast Hit in Record Time (and Lessons You Can Steal!)

Aria Deshe is a Public Relations and Communications Strategist with 20 years of experience in transforming ideas into media coverage and helping executives become thought leaders.

Landing a top-tier broadcast segment during high-stakes global events—economic downturns, geopolitical tensions, and crises nearing breaking points—can feel like navigating an impossible maze. Yet, I managed to secure a CES 2025 feature on a weekend, after midnight, and in less than 30 minutes.

Here’s how I did it—and how you can, too.

Why Broadcast Success Is Different
Broadcast success depends on persistence, timing, and relationship-building. We're long past the days of "ideal pitching times." so don't be afraid to send that late night email or pitch on a weekend. If you're sure strategic, find the media gap and position your client as the missing link that will add value 

The real key? Finding the media gap—what’s missing in their current coverage—and positioning your client as the solution. A fresh angle or a contrarian viewpoint can make all the difference.

Lessons From the Trenches

• In my case, I observed tech segments already airing and created a pitch that seamlessly extended the existing conversations.
• By highlighting Europe’s growing role in the global tech landscape and tying it to CES 2025, I transformed a potentially evergreen topic into a timely story producers couldn’t ignore.

What Made My Pitch Stand Out?

• It complemented the news cycle instead of competing with it
  • I leaned into themes already dominating coverage, giving producers an additional dimension to explore.
• It filled a gap in the conversation
  • Most of the coverage was focused on U.S. and China Tech Wars. Europe’s role, however, was untapped, so I positioned my story to fill this gap.
• It was concise and actionable
  • Producers are short on time. My pitch highlighted key talking points and made it easy for them to see how it fit into their coverage.

Why the Strategy Works?

Broadcast thrives on relevance. By aligning my pitch with real-time coverage and framing it as a natural extension of the ongoing narrative, I made it essential rather than optional.

For example, tying CES 2025 to Europe’s evolving role in tech innovation amid U.S.-China competition gave producers a global angle that added depth to their reporting.

A Step-by-Step guide on reverse-engineering any story into a winning broadcast pitch:

1. Start With the News Cycle: What’s dominating coverage right now? Identify the big-picture themes and figure out how your story fits into them.
2. Analyze Talking Points: Study the shows or outlets you’re pitching to. What topics do they focus on? What perspectives are they repeating?
3. Find the Gap: What’s missing from the conversation? Whether it’s a fresh perspective, an overlooked angle, or new data, position your story to fill that gap.
4. Reframe Your Pitch: Tie your story to current trends and show producers how it enhances their coverage. Make it concise, actionable, and impossible to ignore.

The Big Takeaway

Broadcast success isn’t about reinventing the wheel—it’s about understanding the game and playing it well. Align your pitch with the news cycle, fill the gaps, and add value that resonates with producers and their audiences.

If I can land a response in 30 minutes, so can you. It’s not magic, it’s getting creative!

About Aria Deshe

Aria Deshe is a Public Relations and Communications Strategist with 20 years of experience in transforming ideas into media coverage and helping executives become thought leaders.  She has a solid record of working with global brands and business leaders to enhance growth and visibility. Aria specializes in creating campaigns that position executives as experts, while providing brand exposure and measurable results. With her professional network and media connections, she has helped startups and smaller brands achieve growth through tailored strategies that deliver tangible outcomes. Aria has held senior executive positions in both in-house teams and global agencies. She specializes in high impact brand building strategies, consistently yielding top tier broadcast, print and online coverage, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN International Live, CNN First Move with Julia Chatterly, MSNBC’s The Katie Phang Show, TechCrunch, The Wall Street Journal, more.

Want to join a OnePitch's Community?