Point, Counterpoint

Off and on throughout these last few months, I’ve needed some comic relief. Today’s comic relief just fell into my inbox toward the end of my shift.

Yes, friends, it’s another rant against that wonderful world of P.R. trying to pitch your friendly neighborhood TV station the next great satellite interview.

Today’s nonsense comes from Alexandra Sklansky of Taylor Global, Inc. (formerly Alan Taylor Communications). And it reads as follows…


Hi Doug,

Thought this interview might be of interest to you…

On Thursday, May 10, Emmy Award Winning host of “Survivor”, Jeff Probst, will be available live (via satellite) from Herald Square in New York City (5:00am – 7:00am ET) where he’ll be discussing his work with MasterCard and The Home Depot, the May 13th “Survivor” season finale as well as his charity The Serpentine Project.

Over the last decade, reality television has become a staple in American culture. A recent study actually showed that the population knows more about each American Idol finalist than they do about our Presidential candidates. What is it that continues to draw our attention? Why do shows like American Idol, The Real World and The Amazing Race continue to thrive while shows such as My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé, Britney & Kevin: Chaotic, and Superstar USA fail to make it?

Jeff Probst, Emmy-Award winning host of the hit show Survivor since its inception in 2000, is available to discuss these questions and more on Thursday, May 10th. Being a part of one of the most successful shows in history, Probst is able to provide first hand insight on the entire reality television phenomenon.

What’s missing from this picture, class? Give yourself a gold star if you said any NBC show. Not one mention of The Apprentice, another Mark Burnett production, or the borderline Amazing Race ripoff titled Treasure Hunters.

So I had to simply ask, in an e-mailed response to Alexandra, “You are aware we’re an NBC station, right? Not one show you mention has aired on NBC.”

Her response – and I promise this is verbatim.


Doug,

I’m happy to mention any of your shows as well. Yes, I’m aware that you’re an NCB affiliate. I was implying that I thought it might be interesting to do a reality TV business story.

Thanks,

Alexandra

You think incorrectly identifying a broadcast TV network is bad? You should’ve seen the slogan in her signature – along with her phone number, fax number, etc. The slogan reads, “Taylor | Partners in Moving Brands Forward”.

Yes, I like how the jokes just write themselves, too. Naturally, I corrected her with the response, “That’s NBC — not NCB. If your organization is made up of partners in moving brands forward, you might want to take the time to identify brands correctly.” I further asked her in these early days of a ratings period, why would an NBC affiliate air a live interview with a prominent star from another network?

No response yet from Alexandra. I hope she’s learned a valuable lesson from this. I hope the rest of you in the satellite interview universe take a cue from this nonsense.

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2 Comments

  1. Ha ha this girl’s a moron. A friend of mine roomed with her in high school and whoa what a piece of work.

  2. I take it you found us through a Google search — which is fine. I Googled “Alexandra Sklansky” one day, found her Vimeo profile and just sensed her elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top.

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