By Erin Upton

In radio broadcasting, language is everything. Without pictures or video to compliment the words and help the story flow, sound is all Christopher Springmann has to connect with his audience. That’s why it’s absolutely crucial for each spoken word to touch his listeners.

As the host and executive producer of Life Love & Health, a health and lifestyle program, he’s able to share moving stories that capture an individual’s personal challenges and by doing so bring a sense of unity to his listeners. The program airs daily around the country on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio news and talk stations including ABC, CNN, Fox and ESPN, on NPR affiliates, on Wal-Mart Radio and, internationally, on Voice of America Radio Network and the American Forces Network. Springmann has been producing 20 of these programs a month for nearly five years.

Springmann has also been working on a new program, Body Language, set to debut on July 8. It’s a one hour feature program based in great part on integrated health and wellness. The show will initially consist of six programs that will run six consecutive weeks on KALW-FM in San Francisco. After reviewing the audience response, the plan is to launch the program nationally during the first quarter of 2009.

“A typical Body Language story that we’re running features an integrative oncologist from UCSF (the University of California, San Francisco) and one of his patients, a woman who had breast cancer,” Springmann said. “She was not pleased with the type of service she was receiving from a conventional oncologist and chose this path because she found the integrative oncologist much more engaging, much more personal and willing to try therapies that would be considered either complimentary or alternative.

“Now that interview with the patient is very powerful in the sense that she really had an opportunity to convey for the first time her thoughts about the whole process,” he said. ”I always feel that when we do an interview like that people get closer to the radio. They really listen because it’s not me talking, it’s not a doctor talking, it’s someone who they can identify with and that’s really the key with this: to find people who tell compelling stories.”

Whether using photographs, written words or broadcasting, Springmann has always sought to tell these stories. With his broad range of experience and desire to make a positive change in people’s lives, he knows exactly what elements make up a truly inspiring and influential piece.

“The compelling stories that always intrigued me as a photographer, later as a writer for Chief Executive magazine, were ones that pushed my emotional buttons,” Springmann explained, “those personal health stories that celebrated the human spirit, that incorporated elements of behavior and relationships, choices and decisions, all coupled with struggle and often, triumph.”

Pitching Tips

“We don’t take pitches except from people who have listened to the show, researched us well, and who have determined that a partnership with us would benefit their client,” Springmann said. “We will not accept telephone or mail communications.”

He does not wish to be e-mailed directly; instead, visit the Web site. Take a look around and listen to the programming. After you’ve done that, if you decide you’d like to contact them you can do so from the Web site.

“We are not anxious to put individuals on the radio whose mission is to sell something. They really have to be a valuable service to our audience and give people valuable information,” he explained. “For example, we won’t put authors on alone. We will put authors on with their readers, people who’ve bought the book and benefited from it. Otherwise, it’s a very one-sided conversation and it’s not very compelling for the listener.”

Springmann prefers aggregators like The Wall Street Journal, Marketwire and Health Behavior News Service. He also loves long-term relationships with PR firms. One of his goals for the future is “to continue the wonderful relationships we have with committed and inspired professionals” at several PR firms. Springmann appreciates PR professionals “who serve their client’s best interests well and appreciate what we do well.”

One of his pet peeves is being viewed as a press release dump. He also finds vague e-mails disturbing.

“I have noticed more e-mail pitches are very vague to the point of being duplicitous, not mentioning the client’s or product name or even the name of the Top Ten PR firm in the brief signature file,” he said. “More and more e-mails are coming from people with Gmail or Hotmail addresses, which don’t reveal the name of the sending company. These are also from subcontractors for larger firms.”

Springmann sees PR’s role as one that facilitates access to the people he needs to speak with, not one of securing free advertising time for goods and services. From his perspective, media coverage is not an entitlement.

“Most PR firms measure their value to the client in hits, scores, not by service,” he explained. “That’s unfortunate, as we need their input and that puts us in a difficult position.”

Source: The Navigator
 

Jun 09, 2008 05:43 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - June 9, 2008) - Body Language, a new public radio show featuring contemporary attitudes towards health and wellness, will premiere July 8 on 91.7 KALW public radio in San Francisco.

This special edition of six Body Language one-hour programs brings the listener into a conversation about how consumers can empower themselves to influence their own outcomes through increased health literacy, awareness of diverse treatment options, and emerging medical science.

"Body Language will bring together two strands of understanding that are powerful here in the Bay Area," said Matt Martin, General Manager of KALW San Francisco. "First, cutting-edge medical research, then the growing engagement between Western medicine and non-Western, alternative models of health. Our listeners want to hear independent, credible voices about health and wellness and that's what Body Language will deliver."

"Health is a precious personal and professional asset, which we all have a responsibility to nurture and protect," said Christopher Springmann, Executive Producer of San Francisco's On the Path Productions LLC, which created the show.

"Our timing couldn't be better as HMOs such as California-based Kaiser Permanente are offering members acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, and herbal medicine," said Springmann. "While Integrative Medicine going mainstream is an important trend, our core mission is to promote education and prevention by helping listeners make smart, informed choices, based on their life experiences and priorities."

Body Language will air on KALW public radio 91.7FM in San Francisco at 8 PM Tuesday evenings, July 8, 15, 22 and 29; and at 7 PM Monday evenings, August 4 and 11. The show will also be streamed online at www.kalw.org.

Initial content contributors to Body Language include the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; the Mayo Clinic; the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; the Institute for Health & Healing at California Pacific Medical Center; faculty from Harvard and Stanford Universities; the American Pain Foundation; the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; and the American Urological Association Foundation.

About On the Path Productions

On the Path Productions LLC (OPP), founded by radio personality and motivational speaker Christopher Springmann, produces popular radio broadcasts including Life, Love & Health and Body Language as well as custom webcasts and house-branded newsmagazines, focused on health and lifestyle issues. Sponsored and underwritten by leading brands, trade associations, foundations and healthcare organizations, On the Path Productions' over 800 radio shows have reached millions of consumers as well as opinion leaders, policy makers and healthcare influencers via XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Public Radio affiliates; major retail in-store radio, with 4000+ outlets; New Media distribution including HealthRadio.net; plus the Voice of America; and American Forces Network. For more information about On the Path Productions, visit www.onthepathproductions.com.

Source: MarketWire
 

PRWEEK: May 21, 2007

By Longpre, Marc

SATELLITE RADIO didn't just give Howard Stern fans a way to tune in to the shock jock after he left terrestrial radio. The two major providers of satellite radio also have given healthcare PR pros a valuable way to reach niche audiences. Nick Ragone, SVP and director of the New York communications media strategy network at Ketchurn, says the trend with satellite radio mirror the broader trends in media.

"With blogs, online sites of traditional media, etc., they all have more original content, and it's becoming more and more specific," Ragone says. "That's the whole trend. Satellite radio offers so many programs, it's just been an unbelievable growth opportunity for PR people to find."

One such avenue for PR pros involved in healthcare is Life Love &Health, a 90-second health program that is embedded within ESPN, CNN, Fox, and other networks' satellite radio shows.

"When a product is released, there's sometimes a reluctance to do serious advertising," says Chris Springmann, executive producer ol the show. "We do all original interviews and work hard to provide a real informative and fun show. I would say we're- generally considered part of people's marketing and communications mix. "

Not only is the show a unique way for a client to reach consumers and raise awareness of a particular disease, procedure, or health issue, but it also provides clients a chance to speak to people going about their ordinary day. In addition to being broadcast on the satellite programs, the show is played on Wal-Mart Radio in its stores.

PR pros have pitched the show on issues their clients would like to see raised, and Springmann says it's increasingly an effective way to reach the general public.

LuAnn Sodano, VP of media relations at KEF Media, has approached the show to do stories on diabetes, osteoporosis, and migraines.

"There are so many programs out there; the reach is getting larger every day. I think you'd be foolish not to include satellite programs in your communications plans," Sodano says.

Marc Longpre

KEY POINTS:

* Satellite radio can help you find programming to fit yourclients'targeted needs

* Some shows are carried across a number of satellite programs and can help get your message across to a variety of audiences

* Pitching programs like Life Love & Health can be an alternative to paid ads

Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. May 21, 2007

(c) 2007 PRweek; U.S. ed.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: PRweek; U.S. ed.