CHAPTER 21
	Teases and Promos

Teases are those things at the end of news blocks designed to convince the audience to stay through the commercials because what’s coming up is worth waiting for. They’re written much the same as promos, which are free-standing program elements intended to get people to watch or listen to the news. Don’t confuse either with journalism. Teases and promos are designed to get people to listen to or watch the news, and they’re written in the same basic style as news. But they’re not news, and, in fact, they fail if they have real news value to them.

Why cover them, even briefly, in a book about writing news? Two reasons: First, newspeople write almost all news teases, and newspeople are commonly called on to write or approve news promos. Second, the flagrant disregard for responsibility and the audience in teases and promos contributes heavily to the negative perception many people in the audience have about the broadcast news business. We’d be in a lot better shape if we wrote teases and promos better and more responsibly.

PROMOTION

Stations seem to view teases and promos as anything from among the most important products on the air—hiring people specifically to write them—to the least important—letting interns and production assistants handle the load. But more often than not, the task falls to the newscast producer. At least some studies show that promos—especially in TV where some run in prime time—can make a big difference in the size of the audience. The more interesting the news program looks or sounds, the more likely people will watch. Teases can do the same thing. Later in the newscast, when people may be more likely to tune out, either because of the time or because they’re not interested in sports, teases can make the difference whether the audience is still there.

TEASE … DON’T TELL

The most common mistake in teases is telling the audience what the story is:

There’s really no reason for the audience to stay through the commercials to hear about any of those stories. The writers have already told the audience what the news is.

The key to successful teases is telling the audience just enough to get them interested—but not so much that they don’t need to stay tuned. Take a look at how those three teases, which went on the air, could have been improved to do what they’re supposed to do:

These revised versions give the audience a reason to keep watching or listening. In the first case it’s fairly obvious that we’re going to get a nice weather forecast, but the audience can’t like what they don’t hear. They’ll be there. Both the second and third examples are designed to pique the curiosity of even the most marginal sports fan.

Note also that although these teases are designed to get people’s attention, they also do nothing to irritate the audience by either promising something that can’t be delivered or delaying information that might be considered critical to someone’s safety and well-being.

MAKE THEM CARE

Another common problem in teases is that they’re simply not compelling or not of wide enough interest. Too many teases are greeted with an indifferent “who cares?” attitude on the part of the audience:

The first tease will only work—if at all—with people in the Logan Elm school district. Even then, it’s pretty dry. Worse, Logan Elm is a relatively small school district outside the core city, so its strongest appeal is to a tiny portion of the total audience.

Most people would grab a little extra sleep if they could, so the second example isn’t much of a tease either. Neither gets the audience to care. Rewrite them to broaden the interest and raise a question the audience will want the answer to:

The first rewrite on the school system attempts to broaden the appeal to make the story a possible answer to problems that every school district might face—and to write the tease in a more compelling fashion. The second tease raises a question to which most people are likely to want the answer.

While questions in news stories are almost always inappropriate, questions in teases and promos make sense. In news stories we’re supposed to be answering questions, not asking them. In teases and promos we’re specifically not answering questions. We’re commonly raising questions that require the audience to watch the news to learn the answers.

Here are some teases that went on the air that worked:

These work because they’re tightly written; they’re cute, clever, intriguing or compelling; and they make you want to stay to find out exactly what they’re talking about. Short and clever, the first example above makes a strong case for something worth seeing. The second uses a question that’s just peculiar enough to pique our curiosity. The third one sounds like a fun, oddball story. The last one says we’re going to see a strong human story. All of them promise something that will get the audience’s attention.

GOING TOO FAR

Although some teases and promos don’t work because they either tell us too much or don’t get our attention, a bigger problem comes with telling people things we shouldn’t.

• Don’t say coming up next if it isn’t. At the least, if you use that phrase, make sure the story is in the next block—preferably, the first story up. If you’re going to promote a story for the end of the newscast, tell the audience that it’s coming up later, still to come, or something of the sort. We’re in the news business; never lie to or mislead the audience.

• Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. If you promote a story as compelling, make sure it’s compelling. If it’s not, do the story better, don’t promote it or don’t exaggerate in the promotion. People feel cheated if what they get isn’t what you promised. Quite a few years ago, a large-market TV anchor told the audience that coming up, there were 10,000 dead in some small town not too far away. The dead turned out to be chickens. Think how amusing that story was for all the people who had friends and family in that town. Think about what station they won’t turn to tomorrow. If you’re promising great pictures, make sure you can deliver. Again, don’t lie or mislead.

• Don’t tease audience safety or well-being. If you really have a story that affects the safety and well-being of the audience, tell people what it is; don’t blithely tease that you’ll tell them the information later. If the story is that strong, tell people what it is and tell them that you’ll have more information coming up. If the story is real, they’ll tune in. Not giving the audience information that’s truly a matter of public safety makes clear that you care about the audience only as a commodity. You would never treat someone you cared about that way; don’t do it to the audience.

SUMMARY

Teases run at the end of news blocks to convince the audience to stay through the commercials. Promos are free-standing program elements intended to get people to watch or listen to the news. Neither involves journalism. Good teases and promos get the audience interested without telling them exactly what’s coming up. Don’t tease real safety issues. If the public’s safety is at stake, just give them the news.

KEY WORDS & PHRASES

teases

promos