Avoid the "Cold Open" to your Newscast
By Graeme Newell
gnewell@602communications.com
http://www.602communications.com

If you want to see a newsroom running at its best or its worst, just throw a little breaking news into the mix. Through sheer force of will, the entire news team re-tools the show on the fly, and quite regularly pulls off miracles. Typically, one of the components left on the cutting room floor is the top-of-show tease.

The feeling is that the breaking news story is just too important to be delayed because of a tease. We must get right to the pertinent facts. Some producers consider the tease at the top of the show as a necessary evil, and in breaking news situations, they can blamelessly eject this bit of Madison Avenue puffery in favor of real news.

The problem with this scenario is that producers tend to get addicted to the adrenaline rush of their own story. It takes a monumental effort to re-rack a show in an instant. The producer works so hard and so quickly that they can’t imagine the entire world will not be enthralled with their new breathless lead story.

If the breaking news story is truly groundbreaking to the audience, then hanging on to the multitudes won’t be a problem – but most breaking news situations are not like this. A few are great, but most are pretty average. It is important that the producer not get too charmed with the appeal of their own lead story, and throw out their best chance at spiking a number later in the show.

While your new lead story may be interesting, some viewers will not be intrigued. You just can’t please all the people, all the time. With a cold open, you're betting the entire newscast on one story, hoping it will satisfy everyone. If viewers don’t like that lead story, they don't know what else is in your newscast.

Jettisoning an open tease is a serious gamble. This is akin to publishing a magazine with no table of contents. You are betting that the cover story will be so titillating that it motivates the purchase of the publication. For most people, one component is not enough.

Tossing the tease is like producing a trailer that shows just one exciting scene from the movie. Smart trailer producers pack the promo with all their hot stars, their biggest explosions, and most provocative love scenes. No matter how big the headliner, they use all the tools at their disposal, just in case not everyone is bewitched by the star.

It is important to remember that viewers like teases. They are some of the most compelling parts of the newscast for our audience. Just as with a magazine, the viewer sees them as a table of contents. This is the place where they make a decision about their valuable time. This is where the station proves that the remainder of the show is so good that bedtime should be delayed.

Everyone hates bad teases that merely withhold and manipulate, but research clearly shows us that good teases with compelling video and sound are not seen as commercial interruptions that delay, but as news content that helps viewers understand the stories to come. It helps them to wisely make a decision about how to utilize their time.

When a producer needs extra time, the easiest thing to toss out is the tease. It is a modular component that can be cast aside with minimal disruption to the other components within the show. Problem is, the tease is also the one thing that has the most impact on audience retention into your second quarter hour. Your show will time out just fine – but no one will be around to watch it because they don’t know about the great content concealed later in the newscast.

Don’t do cold opens. If you feature breaking news at the top of your show, modify the tease. Don’t throw it away. Begin your show with a combo tease about your breaking news story. This tease should be half tease and half tell. It is a cross between a news story and a tease.

Start by telling the audience the most important parts of the big story, but don’t tell the entire tale. Give them the most important facts, then follow up with a promise of the most compelling story components yet to come. Then, quickly tease other stories in the cast. Keep it short. Finally, seamlessly transition into your show. Continue telling your lead story. With this technique you have alerted viewers to your important breaking coverage, but you have also given others a reason to stay tuned if they are not interested in your lead.

Before deep sixing any tease in a show, remember, you throw out the best chance to spike a number in the show. Nurture the opening tease. In the bustle of producing a show, these all-important teases are often an afterthought rather than a priority. Most newscasts have little sound or video in these teases. They simply tell the news rather than entice viewers into the show. Doing a good job on the open teases will drastically improve your news numbers. If you must neglect something, choose any other part of the show. Every component in the opening moments should have incredible power and a focus that holds on to viewers. Craft the open and credit teases with the same attention to detail used in the top story. They’re that important.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and web marketing specialist. His teasing seminars immediately raise news ratings and he guarantees you will get results or his workshop is free.