Two Christmas stories, two Best Pitches of the Year

This week before Christmas, I’ve got two pitches for you that feel perfectly on-theme: Both were honored in our Inner Circle’s “Best Pitches of the Year” session, and both happened to be Christmas stories that landed national TV.

And they’re a good reminder that for top-tier broadcast, you’re not “pitching a network.” You’re pitching a specific segment with its own flavor and expectations.

Example 1: ABC World News Tonight – the inspirational closer slot

One Inner Circle member, Taryn Scher, reps the destination of Macon, GA. She didn’t just pitch “a cool holiday thing.” Her story-mining surfaced a local entrepreneur reviving a hometown holiday tradition. Taryn seized it for ABC’s World News Tonight because she knows the show often closes with an inspirational story.

The pitch centered on Bryan Nichols and his holiday lights – 250,000 bulbs that grew over seven years to 1 million across five blocks downtown.

What really made this work (and what many PR teams skip) were the assets Taryn included in her first email pitch: professional, high-res videography (including drone shots), a link to an old local TV segment, and specific sound bites she offered to shoot.

It was a segment-ready press kit designed for only one outlet.

Example 2: TODAY – the pre-tree-lighting moment (and yes, the outreach was text)

Another Inner Circle member, Rachelle Peterson, repped American Christmas, a family-owned business near NYC that stores and maintains Christmas decorations.

Just like Taryn had her eye on WNT’s inspirational closer segment, Rachelle knew NBC airs the Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting every year. Of the dozens of directions this pitch could have taken, she emphasized this company’s care for the 75-year-old angel statues that adorn the plaza and would be very familiar to any TODAY staffers.

A colleague had a TODAY producer’s cell number, so she pitched via text. The producer was receptive, asked some follow-up questions, and then went dark.

To close the deal, she sent four follow-up texts. Then: “We have a buy!” After that came 56 emails of logistics :).

The 4-minute segment was a straight glowing company profile, with holiday decor bringing festive visuals to TODAY and a smooth tease of that weekend’s tree-lighting.

Translation: The pitch didn’t win because it was clever. It won because it matched a real programming need and the PR pro acted like a producer’s partner.

What these top-tier broadcast wins had in common

The common denominators were simple (and very replicable):

• They targeted a segment specific to the network
• They included prominent visuals in the first pitch
• They built in ample lead time

Those very Christmasy wins were just some of the pitches Inner Circle members got to see last week.

We also unpacked pitches that landed Forbes, The New York Times, a six-minute Good Morning America segment, Adweek, and more. Want access when we reopen enrollment? Click here to register on our Wait List.