Usually I am the broker for meetings with media outlets such as The Economist, The FT and Bloomberg but cannot always attend interviews myself. On Monday however, I had the early morning shift – 6:45 at CNBC’s London studio.
The EMEA head of FICO was scheduled to talk about the looming consumer credit problems in Europe. Quite exciting to be at a live broadcast where CEOs and big cheeses from the finance and corporate world are interviewed regularly! Yesterday we shared the pre-interview prep room with Dr Richard Ward, CEO of insurance giant Lloyds of London who was up first.
The new CNBC studio is quite impressive. In fact, it’s an open plan office with a round table in the middle where all the action happens. Cameras are automated and you can also peek into the control room with its hundred of screens.
But strangely, staff and visitors are able to walk around while the show is recorded live. I was wondering how many people have caused disruptions by walking in high heels or worse, holding up a “Hi mum!” sign in the background. I recall one FICO interview with a ‘big bang’ caused by a member of staff who knocked over a bucket.
This morning however, I was also reminded that there can be other disruptions as well. Never underestimate the dynamics of live reporting is a golden PR rule!
Most spokespeople we work with (understandably) want to prepare and meticulously plan the flow of discussions of a broadcast interview to avoid being caught unprepared. But the news flow cannot be planned.
On Monday morning for instance the entire Eurozone was in danger of losing its top notch credit rating. With a breaking story like this, the focus of a programme and its schedule change. Planned interviews get pushed back and some spokespeople might get bumped off completely.
Flexibility is key. Good interviews are not fully planned nor scripted, they are intuitional with spokespeople talking passionately about their subject matter, able to respond to topical questions.
It was a very busy news day at CNBC. FICO managed to get their interview slot after all – and it was great!