D S Simon Productions

D S Simon Productions is a New York headquartered company that "produces and distributes video and audio via satellite and hard copy to the broadcast media." [1]

Services

According to the 2004 Green Book produced by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) the company’s services "include: Video News Release/B-Roll production and distribution; Satellite Media Tours; Corporate Video; Live Remote Segments; In-studio Interviews; Electronic Press Kits (EPKs); PSAs; Event Broadcasting; and Webcasting, all of which individually, or in combination, help companies as well as PR firms and their clients achieve their communication goals." (PSA is the acronym for Public Service Announcement).

Video news releases

On its website the company states "we develop Video News Release (VNR) campaigns that reach a nationwide television audience with your most effective message." Central to achieveing this is researching the concept ahead of production by "conducting surveys of TV news producers and reporters at stations across the country". [2]

"Our strategy is to involve news decision-makers in the VNR process before scripts are written or any production dollars are spent. This invaluable insight prevents you from wasting money on a weak VNR and strengthens the VNRs you do decide to produce, increasing your audience reach," it states.

One a VNR is produced and transmitted the company boasts that it can closely monitor the extent to which it was used. "We encode your story using proprietary Nielsen SIGMA technology. The result: tracking that provides detailed information on station usage, markets, dates, times aired and Nielsen audience numbers," it states on its website.

In November 2003 the company announced that with Pathfire were "working together to distribute video news releases, b-roll footage and other short-form content directly to newsroom desktops in broadcast newsrooms throughout the U.S." [3]

Personnel

• Doug Simon
• Eric Wright, Vice-President, Marketing & Business Development
• Elesia Carey Vice-President, Sales, PR Video Services
• Suzanne Murphy Manager New Business Development
• Jonathan Poretz, Vice-President, West Coast Operations

Other personnel

• Sue Berg
• Sonia Martin
• Julie Edelman

Other SourceWatch resources

• Video news releases

Contact details

229 West 36th St
12th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212.736.2727
Fax: 212.736.7040
Email: news AT dssimon.com
Web: http://www.dssimon.com/

External links

• "Pathfire delivers video content to newsrooms with D S Simon", Broadcast Engineering, November 4, 2003.
• "Transcript to VNR Teleconference", O'Dwyers PR Daily, March 17, 2005. (Sub req'd).
• Doug Simon, "Leading VNR Firm Responds to the Recent FCC Public Notice on Video News Releases", Business Wire, April 14, 2005.
• Christie Casalino, "Gaining exposure with proper disclosure", PR Week, October 3, 2005. (Sub re'q.) (This is an article on Satellite Media Tours).