I was a "Catcher," now I'm a "Pitcher"
By Kristy Finch
broadcast media director

For the past 14 years I was a Segment Producer for the FOX morning show in Chicago. Every day after producing five hours of live television I would go up to my desk and start going through the hundreds of e-mails I received daily. My method to this madness was to read the subject line and if something caught my eye I would open the e-mail and read further. An example of a good subject line was anything that included tips: 5 Tips to Secure your Home When You Leave on Vacation, 4 Tips to Lose Weight without Exercising, 5 Tips to Help you Save for your Kids College. Tips make some of the best television segments because everyone needs help organizing their lives.

Another thing that caught my eye was anything having to do with kids or animals. Almost everyone loves a cute kid or a fluffy friend. Other easy wins are any story that included celebrities, athletes, authors of self-help books, politicians, topical news-makers, musicians, relationship experts, legal experts or financial experts. Upon first glance I could tell if the pitch was something I could use on the show or if it was a PR person trying to get a free infomercial for their client.

Looking back, I can't believe how many pitches went unread. Sometimes I wonder what great segment I may have missed just because it had a boring subject line. Those were my years as the "catcher." Grabbing every pitch that was thrown at me and making a play out of it. But, my catching days are over.

Last year, I lived my very own tips segment, "5 Tips For What to Do After Losing Your Job." After booking countless guests, (some I still can't believe I talked into coming on the show, Brett Favre or Drew Peterson) I was laid-off. In these hard economic times, a huge rolodex in the television business won’t save your job. They'll keep the person with the smaller rolodex and hope the audience doesn't notice....do they?

When my season ended I took a few months off and now I'm back in the game....on the other side of the media “ball”. Now I’m pitching. I'm the Broadcast Media Director for Alpaytac Inc. a PR, marketing and communications firm where I reach out to broadcast media outlets on both a local and national basis. I've been working there for six months and it is a whole different ball game.

Now, I'm the person trying to come up with that perfect subject line hoping that the producer on the other end of the e-mail will actually open it. I think after 14 years I could be considered a "veteran" of broadcast media. I know what makes a good segment, so every day I send out those e-mails hoping I can get that "catcher" to take my "pitch" so we can play ball, making sure I have more to offer than the dreaded infomercial. I know I'm a "rookie" now but, I'm ready to become a major league player again on the other side of the ball.... for my new team.