STATION TOOLKIT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

“What Is It?” - About TV Takeover …………………………………………………………………………………........... 3

“All About Relationships” - Community Engagement, Partnership & Collaboration Tips .... 4

“Making It Happen” - Content Production & Creative Process Do’s & Don’ts ……………..…...... 5

“What The Fund?” - Budgeting & Sustainability ………………………….…………………………………......... 7

“Putting It All Out There” - Promotion & Marketing Tips ………………………….……………………....... 8

Appendix A - TV Takeover Curator Application Example ………………………….……………………..... 12

2

WHAT IS IT?ABOUT TV TAKEOVER

A LIVE TELEVISION EXPERIMENT

3

What happens when you let creative organizations in your community “take over” your station?

Amazing things.

TV Takeover is cross-platform artist-inspired television that places the power

of public television in the hands of the most inventive organizations in your

community, empowering them to tell their story, their way. The project

invites local arts organizations to “take over” public television and produce

one episode that showcases and celebrates their community and creativity.

In 2014, Twin Cities PBS launched this groundbreaking media property and with two seasons under our belt,

we’re sharing our insights on how your public television station can create its own version of TV Takeover.

TV Takeover is:

1 part broadcast

1 part live event

1 part social media event

The format of your station’s TV Takeover may differ depending on resources and goals. This toolkit will walk

your station through the process based on our experiences with the following components:

Community Engagement, Partnership & Collaboration Tips

Content Production & Creative Process Do’s & Don’ts

Budgeting & Sustainability

Promotion & Marketing Tips

Our goal for this toolkit is to inspire your station to create engaging artistic and community-oriented

public television programming for the media consumers of today.

ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPSCOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATION TIPS

4

Finding solid programming partners from your local community is the first step to a successful TV Takeover.

Here are a few steps to take in the partner selection process, as well as some characteristics of an ideal

broadcast partner.

1. Share TV Takeover with your arts community. Explain what the project is and what it hopes to accomplish.

This can be done via social media, on-air, through an “all-comers” meeting at your station or through other

communication vehicles. They need to understand what it is and why your station is doing it.

2. Organize an open call. Once the arts organizations in your community understand what the opportunity is,

organize an open-call so that interested groups may apply. (Example application can be found in Appendix.)

3. Identify organizations that you want to apply. As the deadline approaches, connect with organizations

you were hoping would apply to see if they’d like to/plan to.

4. Interview the finalists. As you narrow down your list of prospective partners, conduct in-person interviews

with the top organizations who applied. The selection committee should consist of the project’s main

producer(s) as well as a managing producer who can speak to any financial questions that come up.

An ideal TV Takeover partner should have:

• A clear goal for what they hope to accomplish

• A unique theme idea for their episode

• Existing video content

• Experience creating media

• Sufficient human resources to dedicate to the project

• A well-articulated target audience and/or network

• Flexible schedules for pre-production and production meetings

• Availability on desired airdate

• An active and consistent social media presence

• Experience promoting successful events

Once you have selected finalists, agree on dates and deliverables and execute a contract!

MAKING IT HAPPENCONTENT PRODUCTION & CREATIVE PROCESS DO’S & DON’TS

5

We all know making television ain’t easy! What’s more, working with organizations that aren’t experts in media

can allow for some extra complications. But not to worry! Straight from our series producer, here are tips to

make the most of this collaborative content creation process.

IT’S NOT A COMMERCIAL!Make it clear from the beginning of the process that no item created for the show should be promotional in

nature. Partners may challenge you on this and try to get around it—but it is in their best interest, and the

interest of the show to have the end product be creative, not promotional.

STRONG THEMES Have your partners choose a theme and use that theme or thesis to build

a show around. It is much easier to craft an original, creative work of

television if you have a topic you’re creating media under. Think “Women

in Film”, “Dance in Our City,” or “The Art of Happiness.” TV Takeover works

better with this in mind rather than a variety show.

TIME ALLOCATION FOR PRODUCTIONMake sure you budget enough hours with videographers and audio

technicians for each partner. For our TV Takeover, each partner was

allotted three days (24 hours) with one of our videographers. Some

partners like to do the shooting and editing themselves and can “donate”

hours to other partners.

DEDICATED TEAM MEMBER REQUIREDTV Takeover requires time, effort and consistent communication. Partners should have a point person who is

willing to take on two (at a minimum) extra hours of work every week leading up to their broadcast. They must

be flexible enough in their schedule to accommodate this and respond to inquiries quickly.

LET THE PARTNERS GUIDE THE VISION… But don’t be afraid to throw in your own ideas for content! Sometimes

partners aren’t thinking about production and it can be helpful to

them to have you guide the episode with creative input—or at least

jump-start the creative thinking process.

MAKING IT HAPPENCONTENT PRODUCTION & CREATIVE PROCESS DO’S & DON’TS

6

EMPOWER THEM TO CREATELet your partners shoot (and possibly edit) some of their own media for the episodes. TV Takeover isn’t about

the highly polished video, it’s about collaboration and thinking outside the box. See what happens when you

lend them a GoPRO or ask them to shoot a piece on their cell phone.

THINK UNCONVENTIONALLY Make video that’s never been made before. Stretch the boundaries. Will everyone like it? It’s better that they

don’t! Create something that shakes up the traditional idea of public television.

SHARING IS CARINGPromote the project on social media to help hype the upcoming show AND encourage your partners to do the

same. This is so important! Sharing behind-the-scenes photos and short videos will get people excited for the

upcoming live event and broadcast. Share, share, share!

TAKE TIME TO TEACHRemember that your partners probably don’t know that much about television production. Make sure you walk

through the process of what you’re going to create with them so they don’t question your timetable or make

assumptions that end up hurting the partnership. Knowledge is power! They’ll walk away from this opportunity

with significantly more insight into creating a TV show than they would have had before.

HAVE FUN!TV Takeover is a celebration of a great combining of minds. Don’t get mired down in the overly serious or worry

too much about production value. Push the envelope and rattle some cages! The partners should walk away

from the process having had a blast—and with some great media to continue to share.

WHAT THE FUND?BUDGETING & SUSTAINABILITY

7

TV Takeover is about community engagement, artistic empowerment and making art accessible to as many

people as possible through the power of media.

Support for TV Takeover can come from a variety of sources: from small community foundation grants to in-

kind trade partnerships and sponsorships to corporate underwriting and individual gifts.

Below we have broken out how we used our resources to create our version of TV Takeover. The scale in which

you decide to produce TV Takeover is up to you!

52% *Personnel cost

44% Full time - Series Producer, Managing Producer, Partner Coordinator, Marketing & Event Coordinator

8% Part Time - Associate Producer

20% Non-Personnel

7% Partner stipends

11% Production expenses - set, rentals, captioning, expendables

2% Printing/Advertising

23% Production/Facilities

20% Studio Crew and Facilities

3% Field Crew and Facilities

5% Post Prod/Facilities

4% Post crew and facilities

1% Design

*Personnel Roles

Series Producer: Primary producer and decision maker for overall show concepts.

Managing Producer: Oversees production expenses, schedule and crew.

Partner Coordinator: Supports series producer with partner communications regarding production logistics.

Works closely with event coordinator on day-of event logistics and is primary communicator to partners

regarding promotion.

Marketing & Event Coordinator: Works with partner coordinator on event-related logistics. Works closely with

station marketing team in promotion efforts.

Associate Producer: Assist series producer with shoots, editing packages and day-of production logistics.  

PUTTING IT ALL OUT THEREPROMOTION & MARKETING TIPS

8

Once partners have been selected and broadcast/event dates determined, it’s time to create a promotional timeline. Your partners will be critical in helping promote TV Takeover. Share your timeline with them and help guide them along the way.

Promotional tactics at-a-glance: Social media posts with video if possible Paid advertising (if budget allows) Posters/flyers Cross promotion at partners’ events Press releases/media alerts On-air spots Local online event calendars

Suggested data points to track: Attendance at the live events Ratings information Videos views Partner feedback Attendee and viewer feedback Earned media mentions Social media impressions

PUTTING IT ALL OUT THEREPROMOTION & MARKETING TIPS

9

PROMOTIONAL TIMELINE

To Do: ASAP

WRITE A PROJECT DESCRIPTION What is TV Takeover? Craft a long and short version of boilerplate language to use in press releases, on website(s) etc. Also, a “one-liner” will come in handy. Keep these simple but know that it can be challenging to describe!

CREATE ‘TV TAKEOVER’ ASSETSYou will need various sized graphics for promotion on air, social media, websites, flyers/posters etc.

PARTNER STATEMENTS & ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTIONSWork with the partners to get the description/mission of their organization they would like used in marketing materials as well as a quote(s) from them about their upcoming participation in TV Takeover.

‘TV TAKEOVER’ PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENTUse your project description to craft a blog post, e-blast, press release and/or social media mentions announcing your stations new project. Include partner organizations descriptions/missions and broadcast/event dates. Tease additional info and tickets to come. Accompany this with a promo video if possible.

CRAFT EPISODE DESCRIPTIONSAs episodes start taking shape, create long and short episode descriptions. Suggested lengths: Short description – 150 characters Long description – 350 characters

ALWAYS BE SNAPPINGThroughout pre-production, gather behind-the-scenes content for use on social media. Use Snapchat; post photos and short videos Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to drum up excitement with your audiences.

IMPORTANT: Tag your partners and encourage them to share from their accounts as well! Empowering your partners by supplying them with promotional language to use and videos to reach out to THEIR existing networks is incredibly powerful and a great budget helper!

10

To Do: 4 Weeks Out

SET UP EVENT REGISTRATIONUse an event management tool like Eventbrite for registration. Decide what kind of ticket price tier you may have, if any at all. Charging for tickets could help offset some costs but that should not be a goal. Keeping ticket prices reasonable is key to making TV Takeover accessible to the public. Remember that free events tend to have a significantly higher “no-show” rate than paid events. Experiment with “flash sales” and coupon codes to drive ticket sales. Use Facebook events to help spread the word.

ANNOUNCE EVENT REGISTRATION & EPISODE DESCRIPTIONSUse your project and episode descriptions to craft a blog post, e-blast, press release AND social media posts announcing event registration is open and to garner attention and excitement from the community and local press.

To Do: 1 Week Out

FOCUS ON TICKET SALESDepending on where you are with registration numbers in the days leading up to the event, promote daily on social media. If registration numbers are high, continue to promote the broadcast and live stream. You will see a significant spike in event registrations in the final 48 hours.

To Do: Takeover Day

LET EVERYBODY KNOWSocial media is TV Takeover’s best friend.

• Setup a screen in your venue with a feed of your hashtag• Buy a Snapchat filter and start snapping leading up to the event • Have signage throughout the event venue encouraging attendees to Tweet and post to Facebook • Use on-screen graphics to encourage those watching to engage online• Hire a photographer to take still photographs—these will be great for recapping the event and for creating future TV Takeover promotional assets

PUTTING IT ALL OUT THEREPROMOTION & MARKETING TIPS

11

To Do: After the Broadcast

TRACK YOUR SUCCESSHaving solid data that tells your TV Takeover success story will be critical for future funding. SurveyMonkey is a great tool for surveys and using rewards such as giveaways will entice participation. Additionally, surveying in-person at the event is a great way to gather anecdotal feedback that you can turn into metrics.Example: You interview ten people and they all say “yes” to the following question: “Would you be more likely to support public TV after attending this event?” You can report “100% of participants surveyed say that they’d be more likely to support public TV as a result of this event.”

SEND A SURVEYConsider utilizing a five-question survey that survey can be used at the event (i.e. answer these questions and get a drink ticket) or emailed to attendees afterwards. Email surveys can be far less effective than in-person surveying so attaching an incentive is critical.

SHOW PEOPLE WHAT THEY MISSEDSend a post-event email ASAP with photos from the event, links to full episodes or clips of the broadcast and a link to a survey.

Upon completion of TV Takeover, make a highlight reel for future funding and promotional purposes. And then send us a link so that we can share your success!

Have questions? Need inspiration? Contact us: Rewire@tpt.org

PUTTING IT ALL OUT THEREPROMOTION & MARKETING TIPS

12

TV Takeover Curator Application

Wanna make TV with us?

Twin Cities PBS is looking for four inventive plus adventurous Twin Cities arts organizations to take over our air, studio, and web for five Saturday nights of eclectic, unusual, television making events. It’s all part of TV Takeover Season 2!

Each broadcast event is uniquely curated by that week’s partner featuring art, media, dance, music, and food and drinks. The role of curator includes the opportunity to make a collaborative episode of public TV, a cash stipend, and a ridiculous amount of fun.

Could you be the one we’re looking for?

Check out last year’s episodes here: www.tpt.org/tvtakeover TV Takeover has been nominated for an Upper Midwest Regional Emmy® Award!)

* Required 1. Organization Name * ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Organization Bio * ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Contact Information * Name, Email, Phone ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Are you familiar with TV Takeover? * Choose one. Yes

No

TV TAKEOVER CURATOR APPLICATION

13

5. How did you view/experience TV Takeover in the past? (If you answered “Yes” to the previous question.)

Choose one.

Television broadcast

At the event

Online

6. Why are you interested in partnering with TPT to create your own episode of TV Takeover? *________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What interesting/innovative/unconventional ideas do you have for your own episode? * Give a few examples of live and/or pre taped content you might like to include. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Do you have any pre existing video content that would be available to use in the show? * Choose one.

Yes

No

9. Briefly describe those videos. (If you answered “Yes” to the previous question.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TV TAKEOVER CURATOR APPLICATION

14

10. Do you have someone at your organization who could dedicate several hours every week to help create the episode? *

Choose one.

Yes

No

11. Select the dates your organization would be available for the broadcast party. * (Party starts at 8 p.m., broadcast at 9 p.m.)

Check all that apply.

4/9/17

4/16/17

4/23/17

4/30/17

Thank you!

TV TAKEOVER CURATOR APPLICATION