In January, TV One debuted its fourth annual Urban One Honors program celebrating Black excellence. To prepare for the premiere of the star-studded show, the TV One PR Team began executing its media outreach with the initial distribution of the Urban One Honors press release in November 2021. The team continued to earn press coverage in December and January, arranging a number of top-tier interviews for Urban One Honors host Ne-Yo. Leading up the event, the team hosted a press conference attended by more than 90 notable media outlets. The event gave media access to Ne-Yo, show producers and top TV One execs, including President Michelle Rice. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the PR team managed to throw a glitzy in-person press junket. The nearly $50,000 PR budget went toward hiring an on-site Getty Photographer, travel/stay, external agency retainers and more. The successful media relations strategy led to press hits in top media outlets such as “Entertainment Tonight,” “Extra,” Ebony, Vibe and The Grio. The Urban One Honors garnered more than 100 pieces of coverage, reaching more than 80 million readers and viewers. All that media coverage helped the event increase premiere ratings by double digits, bringing in 677,000 unique viewers and landing in the top 10 programs on ad-supported cable in its time period among P25-54 Black audiences (excluding sports).
