Category: Media Coverage

A five-minute appearance on a national business channel can do what months of content cannot: put your face, your company, and your expertise in front of lakhs of viewers with the implicit endorsement of the channel itself. Yet most founders have no idea how to get a TV interview in India — they assume anchors find guests through some closed network. They do not. Producers find guests through a process, and this article shows you exactly how it works.

How TV Channels Actually Choose Guests

Every news and business channel runs a daily machine: shows need segments, segments need angles, and angles need credible talking heads — often booked the same day. The people who make these calls are not anchors but producers and guest coordinators, working under brutal time pressure. Their shortlist logic is simple: who is relevant to today’s story, credible enough to survive a Google check, reachable within hours, and safe on live camera?

Read that list again, because it is your entire strategy. TV bookings go to founders who are findable, verifiable, available, and articulate — in that order.

Step 1: Become Findable and Verifiable

Before any producer books you, they will search your name. If the results show a thin LinkedIn and nothing else, the booking dies there — a producer cannot risk an unverifiable guest. Build the footprint first: press mentions, expert quotes, a personal site stating your expertise plainly, and ideally existing video of you speaking. This is where founder personal branding and earned media pay their broadcast dividend: print coverage is the audition tape for TV.

Step 2: Position Yourself as an Expert, Not an Advertiser

Channels do not book founders to promote companies; they book experts to explain news. The reframe is everything. “Founder of an EV charging startup” is a pitch for free advertising. “Expert who can explain why EV adoption in tier-2 India just overtook metros” is a segment. Define the two or three news topics where you can add genuine insight, and prepare crisp positions on each — because when the relevant story breaks, the expert with a ready point of view gets the call.

Step 3: Reach the Right People

Find the producers

Guest coordinators and output producers of business shows are identifiable on LinkedIn. Follow the shows in your space, note who produces them, and connect with a short, honest message: who you are, your two or three expert topics, and your availability for reactive commentary. No essay, no brochure.

Use the reactive window

The highest-probability booking is reactive: news breaks in your sector, and within hours you email or message producers a two-line offer — “Happy to come on today and explain what the new policy means for D2C exporters; three points I would make are…” Producers under deadline pressure remember and reuse sources who solve their problem fast. The mechanics mirror our guide on pitching journalists in India, compressed to same-day speed.

Let print pull broadcast

TV teams scout print and digital press for articulate voices. A strong feature — the kind we map in how to get featured in Forbes India — frequently triggers inbound broadcast interest. Coverage begets coverage across formats.

Step 4: Deliver a Segment Producers Want to Repeat

TV rewards a specific skill: compression. Prepare three points, not ten. Speak in eight-to-twenty second answers — the rhythm of broadcast — and lead with the conclusion before the reasoning. Bring one number and one vivid analogy per point; anchors and audiences remember both. Never dodge a question: bridge honestly (“the short answer is yes, and here is the nuance…”). And on camera basics: steady eye contact with the anchor or lens, plain confident clothing, and energy about ten percent above what feels natural — screens flatten enthusiasm.

Afterwards, thank the producer briefly and signal availability for future segments. One good appearance typically seeds the next three, because you have crossed the threshold from unknown risk to proven guest.

Step 5: Multiply Every Appearance

The broadcast itself is the beginning. Clip the segment for LinkedIn and Instagram, add it to your website and media kit, and reference it in future pitches — “recently discussed this on [channel]” reframes every subsequent conversation. Broadcast clips also strengthen your visibility in Google and AI search answers, where video content and news mentions weigh heavily. A single interview, amplified properly, works for a year.

What About Paid TV Slots?

India has a large market of paid interview slots and sponsored segments. Be clear-eyed: audiences and industry insiders increasingly recognise them, and they do not carry the credibility transfer of an editorially chosen guest. If you use them, use them as reach, not proof — and never confuse the two. The durable asset is being the expert a producer chooses to call.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I contact TV news producers in India?

Most guest coordinators and producers are on LinkedIn and X. Send a short message stating your expert topics and same-day availability for commentary. Reactive offers tied to breaking sector news get the fastest responses.

Do TV channels pay guests for interviews in India?

Editorial news and business channels do not pay expert guests — and genuine editorial appearances cannot be bought. Separately, paid interview slots exist on many platforms, but they are advertising and carry less credibility.

What should a founder prepare before a TV interview?

Three sharp points with one number and one analogy each, short punchy answers rehearsed aloud, positions on the day’s related news, and clarity on the one message viewers should remember. Preparation beats improvisation on live TV.

About Trace Presence

Trace Presence is a PR and marketing agency built on one principle: coverage that is earned, never bought. We prepare founders for broadcast and position them with the shows and producers that matter — alongside press features, podcasts, and TEDx stages. See our services or get in touch.

Indian journalists receive anywhere from fifty to a few hundred pitches a day. Most are deleted unread. If you want to learn how to pitch journalists in India and actually get replies, you need to understand the uncomfortable truth: the problem is rarely your company. It is that your pitch asks the journalist to do your marketing, instead of helping them do their journalism.

This guide covers finding the right journalist, writing a pitch that survives the three-second scan, timing, follow-ups, and how relationships with the press actually get built in India.

Why Most Pitches Get Deleted in Three Seconds

Open any journalist’s inbox and the pattern is obvious: subject lines that say “Press Release — [Company] announces…”, openings that begin “We are pleased to share”, attachments nobody asked for, and stories that matter to the sender’s CEO but not to a single reader. Journalists are not gatekeepers of free advertising; they are writers with daily targets, editors to satisfy, and readers to serve. Pitches that serve the reader get read. Everything else is noise.

Step 1: Target the Journalist, Not the Publication

“Getting into Economic Times” is not a strategy — ET has dozens of journalists covering different beats. Read the last ten to fifteen articles of any journalist you plan to pitch. You are looking for their beat (startups? consumer brands? policy?), their angle preferences (data stories? founder profiles? contrarian takes?), and the gap your story fills in their recent work.

Build a shortlist of ten to fifteen precisely matched journalists rather than a spray list of a hundred. In India, beats shift often as reporters move between outlets — verify on LinkedIn and X (where most Indian business journalists are active) that they still cover what you think they cover.

Step 2: Build the Story Before the Pitch

A pitch cannot rescue a non-story. Before writing a word, pressure-test what you have against the questions every editor asks: Why now? Why does this matter beyond your company? What is surprising here? Strong raw materials include proprietary data (“our platform data shows tier-2 orders overtook metros”), a contrarian founder position, a trend you exemplify, or genuine milestones with context. If you cannot answer “why now”, manufacture legitimate timeliness — tie your story to a news event, a policy change, or a season. This story-first discipline is exactly what powers successful Forbes India features.

Step 3: Write the Pitch That Survives the Scan

Subject line: the story, not the company

Weak: “Press release: XYZ Foods expands operations.” Strong: “Tier-2 India is out-ordering metros — data from 2 lakh monthly orders.” The subject line should read like a headline the journalist could almost publish.

Body: six to ten lines, maximum

Line one: the story in one sentence. Lines two to four: context and the two or three numbers that prove it. Line five: why this matters to their readers, referencing their beat naturally. Closing: offer the founder for a conversation, link (never attach) supporting material, and stop. No “I hope this email finds you well.” No paragraphs about company vision.

Make the founder quotable

Journalists quote people, not companies. A founder with a sharp, opinionated line — and an existing public footprint from personal branding work — is dramatically easier to write about than a faceless brand.

Step 4: Time It Right

In India, mid-morning on Tuesday to Thursday generally performs best — after the morning news rush, before afternoon filing pressure. Avoid Mondays, late Fridays, and big news days when your story will drown. For festive or seasonal stories, pitch two to four weeks ahead; features get planned earlier than founders assume.

Step 5: Follow Up Like a Professional

One follow-up after four to five working days, adding something new — a fresh number, a development, a sharper angle. Silence after that means no, for now. Never call repeatedly, never guilt-trip, and never escalate to their editor; Indian media circles are small and reputations travel. Instead, stay useful: react quickly when they cover your sector, offer expert comment with no ask attached, and congratulate good work sincerely. The third pitch to a journalist who knows you outperforms the first pitch from a stranger every time.

What If You Have No Contacts at All?

Everyone starts at zero. Begin with journalists at digital business publications who publish frequently and need stories daily. Respond to journalist callouts on X and LinkedIn (many Indian reporters openly ask for sources). Get one or two smaller features first — coverage begets coverage, because journalists Google you before writing, and finding earned coverage reassures them you are legitimate. And if the maths of doing this yourself does not work, that is the honest case for an agency — weigh it against our breakdown of PR agency costs in India.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find journalists’ email addresses in India?

Check article bylines (many outlets list author emails), publication mastheads, LinkedIn, and X bios. Most Indian business journalists are reachable — the scarce resource is not their address but a story worth their time.

Should I send a press release or a pitch email?

Lead with a short pitch email — six to ten lines telling the story. Link the full press release as supporting material. A release without a pitch reads as mass distribution and gets ignored by most Indian journalists.

Is it okay to pitch multiple journalists at the same publication?

Not simultaneously. Pitch the best-matched journalist first, wait for the follow-up cycle to end, then approach another with a genuinely different angle. Parallel pitching inside one newsroom gets noticed and damages trust.

About Trace Presence

Trace Presence is a PR and marketing agency built on one principle: coverage that is earned, never bought. We turn founder stories into pitches journalists actually answer — across business press, TV, and podcasts. See our services or get in touch to put your story in front of the right newsroom.

Founders rarely ask what a Forbes feature does. They ask how to get one. But the second question only matters if the first has a good answer, and for some businesses it does not.

Here is an honest account of what being featured in Forbes actually changes, what it does not, and how to tell whether it is worth pursuing for your business.

Why Forbes carries the weight it does

Forbes has been publishing since 1917. That century of continuity is the whole product. When someone sees the name attached to yours, they are not evaluating the article — they are borrowing a judgement that took a hundred years to build.

This is the mechanism behind every real benefit below. Forbes is not distributing your message. It is lending you its reputation.

The benefits that are real

1. It removes doubt before the first conversation

The most valuable thing a feature does happens before anyone speaks to you. A prospect searching your name finds a recognised publication instead of only your own website. The conversation that follows starts from a different place — you spend less time proving you are legitimate and more time discussing the actual work.

2. It shortens enterprise and institutional sales

Large organisations have procurement processes designed to avoid risk. A buyer championing an unknown vendor internally carries personal risk. Third-party validation from a recognised name reduces it. Whether this is rational is beside the point — it is how decisions get made.

3. It changes investor conversations

No investor funds a company because of a magazine feature. But diligence involves checking what the outside world says about a founder, and independent coverage is a signal that someone with no financial interest found the business worth writing about.

4. It makes hiring easier

Senior candidates leaving stable jobs are taking a risk on you. Independent coverage is one of the few things that reassures a candidate’s family as much as the candidate.

5. It compounds into further coverage

Journalists check who else has written about you. One credible feature makes the next publication significantly easier — this is the single most underrated benefit and the reason placement order matters.

6. It shapes how AI describes you

Increasingly, people ask an AI assistant about a company before visiting its website. Those answers are built from indexed sources, weighted towards trusted publications. Coverage in established media is now one of the ways you influence what AI tools say about your business.

What a Forbes feature does not do

This is the part most agencies leave out.

• It does not generate direct sales. Founders expecting a flood of enquiries the week it publishes are consistently disappointed. It removes friction from sales that were already possible.
• It does not fix a weak business. Visibility accelerates whatever is already true. If the product disappoints, more people find out faster.
• It does not last without follow-up. A single feature with nothing after it becomes a dated link.
• Branded content does not carry the same weight. If it is labelled brand content, informed readers discount it. Be honest with yourself about which you have.

Perception: what people actually think when they see it

There is a gap between how founders imagine a Forbes feature is received and how it actually lands.

That last row matters. Within your own industry, people know the difference between an editorial feature and branded content. Overstating what you have is the fastest way to lose the credibility you were trying to buy.

Who it is genuinely worth it for

• Founders selling to enterprises, institutions or government
• Businesses raising capital in the next twelve months
• Professionals whose personal authority is the product — consultants, coaches, specialists
• Companies in crowded categories where trust is the differentiator
• Businesses entering a market where nobody knows their name

It is worth considerably less for businesses selling low-value products to consumers who buy on price, or for companies whose customers never search their name before purchasing.

How to get the most out of one

1. Put it where buyers look. Website, email signature, LinkedIn, sales decks, proposals.
2. Reference it, do not shout about it. One mention reads as confidence; repeated mentions read as insecurity.
3. Use it to get the next one. Send it with your next pitch as evidence you are a safe subject.
4. Describe it accurately. Say what it is. Anyone who checks will find out anyway.
5. Build on it within ninety days. Momentum matters more than the single placement.

The honest summary

A Forbes feature is a door-opener, not a growth engine. It makes existing opportunities easier to convert and future coverage easier to earn. For businesses where trust is the bottleneck, that is genuinely valuable. For businesses where price is the bottleneck, the money is better spent elsewhere.

Trace Presence is a PR and marketing agency in India that works with founders on earned coverage in Forbes and other leading publications. We are equally happy to tell you when it is not the right spend.

Founders ask us this constantly: if there is budget and time for one, should it be a podcast or a television interview? The honest answer is that they do completely different jobs, and picking wrongly wastes both.

Here is a straight comparison, based on what actually happens after each one runs.

The short answer

What a podcast actually does for you

A podcast gives you time. That is its entire advantage, and it is a big one.

In forty minutes a listener hears how you think, not just what you sell. They hear you hesitate on a hard question and answer it anyway. By the end, a stranger has formed an opinion about whether they trust you — which is precisely the thing that closes deals later.

• Listeners chose the topic, so intent is high
• Episodes are indexed and keep being found for years
• Transcripts feed search results and AI-generated answers
• You can explain nuance that a headline destroys
• Clips give you months of social content from one recording

The trade-off is reach. A good Indian business podcast might have a few thousand engaged listeners. That is not a mass-market number, and it is not supposed to be.

What a TV interview actually does for you

Television gives you legitimacy. Not because more people watch — often fewer people watch closely than you would expect — but because of what appearing on it signals.

A podcast makes people trust you. Television makes people assume others already do.

That signal is disproportionately useful in specific situations: raising money, entering a market where nobody knows you, negotiating with larger partners, or recovering from a reputational knock.

• The clip is a permanent credibility asset for decks and profiles
• It carries weight with people outside your industry, including family offices and government
• Other journalists notice; TV appearances often lead to more press
• It is very hard to fake, so it is trusted

The trade-off is control. You may get four minutes, an anchor with a different agenda, and a question you did not expect. There is no editing and no second take.

Where founders get this wrong

Mistake 1 — Chasing TV before having anything to say

Television rewards people who can compress a point into fifteen seconds. If you have not practised that, a national interview will expose it in front of the largest possible audience. Podcasts are the training ground.

Mistake 2 — Treating a podcast like a pitch

The founders who get the most from podcasts are the ones who forget they are marketing. Listeners can hear a sales pitch instantly and they leave.

Mistake 3 — Doing one of each and stopping

Neither format works as a single event. Both are cumulative. One appearance is a rehearsal; a body of appearances is a reputation.

Which should you do first?

For most Indian founders, in most situations, the sequence is:

1. Start with podcasts. Lower stakes, longer format, and you learn how you sound.
2. Build three to five appearances. You will get noticeably better, and you will have clips.
3. Then approach television. Bookers can see you handle an interview, which makes you a safer choice.
4. Run both together after that. Podcasts for depth, television for legitimacy.

There are exceptions. If your company is in the news this week for a genuine reason, take the television slot now — news windows close fast. If you are raising and need a credibility signal within the month, television moves quicker.

How to decide, honestly

The short version

Podcasts are how people come to trust you. Television is how people assume you are already trusted. Most founders need the first before the second will work properly.

Trace Presence is a PR and marketing agency in India that arranges both — podcast appearances and national television interviews — with briefing support before you go on air.

Podcasts have quietly become the most useful media format for Indian founders. An article gives you a paragraph. A podcast gives you forty minutes in someone’s ear while they drive, walk or cook — and people remember voices in a way they do not remember press releases.

This guide covers how founders actually get booked on podcasts in India, what hosts are really looking for, and what to do once you are on.

Why podcasts work differently to other coverage

Most PR gives you exposure. Podcasts give you familiarity, which is a different and more valuable thing.

• Length. Forty minutes lets you explain nuance that a 400-word article cannot hold.
• Voice. Listeners form a judgement about whether they like you, not just what you do.
• Intent. Nobody stumbles onto a podcast. They chose the subject, which means they care.
• Shelf life. Episodes keep getting discovered for years. A news article is dead in three days.
• Searchability. Transcripts are indexed, so your name starts appearing in searches — including in AI-generated answers.

The uncomfortable truth about getting booked

Hosts are not looking for guests. They are looking for episodes their audience will finish. Those are not the same thing.

Every host is asking one silent question: will my listeners still be listening at minute twenty?

This is why “I would like to come on your podcast to talk about my company” almost never works. It answers your need, not theirs.

What hosts actually want from a guest

How to get on a podcast: the actual process

Step 1 — Build a shortlist that fits your audience, not your ego

The biggest show is rarely the best show. A podcast with 2,000 listeners who are all founders in your sector is worth more than one with 200,000 general listeners. Start with:

• Shows your customers already mention
• Sector podcasts in your industry
• Regional shows in your city or state
• Newer shows actively looking for guests — these are the easiest first wins

Step 2 — Listen properly before you pitch

Listen to at least three full episodes. You need to know the format, the length, how the host handles guests, and what has already been covered. Pitching a topic they did last month is the fastest way to get ignored.

Step 3 — Pitch the episode, not yourself

Write your pitch as though you are proposing a finished episode. A structure that works:

1. One line on why now. What has changed in your market that makes this timely.
2. Three specific talking points. Not themes — actual questions you can answer with substance.
3. Proof you are worth the airtime. A number, an outcome, a decision with consequences.
4. One line of credentials. At the bottom, short.
5. A clear offer to promote. Tell them you will share the episode with your list and network.

Step 4 — Make the host’s job effortless

Send a short guest sheet with your name spelled correctly, a one-line bio, a headshot, and three questions you would love to be asked. Hosts remember guests who reduce their workload, and they recommend them to other hosts.

Step 5 — Turn one appearance into three

This is where most founders stop, and where the value actually is. After the episode goes live:

• Clip two or three 45-second moments for LinkedIn and Instagram
• Write a short post about one idea from the conversation
• Add the episode to your website and email signature
• Send it to the next host as proof you are a good guest

What to do in the interview itself

• Answer in stories, not statements. “We grew fast” is forgettable. “We had eleven days of runway” is not.
• Use real numbers. Specificity signals honesty.
• Admit something. Guests who only talk about wins sound like advertising.
• Do not pitch. One mention of what you do, at the end, if asked.
• Let silences sit. Editors keep the pauses that come before honest answers.

How long before this does anything for your business?

Podcasts are a compounding channel, not a lead tap. Realistically:

If a founder does one podcast and calls the channel useless, they have measured a rehearsal.

Where to start this week

Pick three podcasts your customers actually listen to. Listen to one full episode of each. Write one pitch, for the smallest of the three. That is the whole first step.

Trace Presence is a PR and marketing agency in India that places founders on podcasts, on national television and in leading publications. If you want help identifying the right shows and getting booked, we are happy to talk.

Getting your name into Forbes India is one of the most requested things founders ask us for, and one of the least understood. Most people assume there is a single door, a single editor, and a single price. There is not.

This guide explains what Forbes India actually publishes, the different routes in, what each one realistically requires, and how long it takes. Written in August 2026, based on how the publication operates today.

First, understand what Forbes India actually is

Forbes India is published under a licence arrangement, which means it operates with its own editorial team and its own commercial desks in India. This matters, because the route you take depends entirely on which desk your story belongs to.

There are broadly four different things people mean when they say “I want to be in Forbes”, and they are not interchangeable.

If somebody offers you “guaranteed Forbes coverage” at a fixed price with a fixed date, they are almost always selling you Brand Connect. That is a legitimate product, but it is advertising, and readers can see the label. Be clear about which one you are buying.

Route 1: Earning a genuine editorial feature

This is the one worth aiming for, and the one nobody can promise you. Editorial coverage happens when a journalist decides your story is worth their reader’s time. Money cannot buy it, and any agency claiming otherwise is misleading you.

What makes a founder editorially interesting

Editors at business publications are not looking for a company that exists. They are looking for a story that has changed something. In practice, the angles that work tend to be:

• A number that surprises. Unusual growth, unusual unit economics, unusual scale in a sector nobody was watching.
• A category shift. You are doing something the industry said could not be done, or you did it first in India.
• A counter-intuitive decision. You turned down funding, moved out of a metro, or rebuilt the business after a public failure.
• Access to data nobody has. You can tell the journalist something about your market that they cannot get anywhere else.
• A human story with stakes. Not a rags-to-riches template, but a real decision with a real cost.

Notice that none of these are “we raised a round” or “we launched a product”. Those are announcements. Announcements go in a news brief, if anywhere.

How the pitch actually reaches an editor

1. Identify the right journalist, not the publication. Find the specific person who covers your sector. Read their last ten pieces before you write a word.
2. Write a subject line that is a story, not a request. “Request for feature” gets deleted. “How a Coimbatore textile unit cut water use by 60% and kept margins” gets opened.
3. Lead with the news, not your bio. The first two lines decide everything. Your credentials go at the bottom.
4. Give them proof. Numbers, documents, customers who will speak on record. Journalists need to verify.
5. Make yourself easy. Offer specific times, be available on short notice, respond within the hour.
6. Follow up once, politely, after five working days. Then stop.

Route 2: Forbes India Lists

The annual lists are one of the more realistic paths for founders under 30, women leaders, and people with a clear measurable achievement in a defined window. Nominations usually open several months before publication, and the selection is genuinely competitive.

What tends to separate a successful nomination from an ignored one is evidence. Vague claims about impact do not survive scrutiny. Verified revenue figures, third-party recognition, customer numbers and documented outcomes do.

Route 3: Brand Connect, and when it makes sense

Brand Connect is Forbes India’s branded content offering. Your piece appears on the Forbes India domain, clearly marked as brand content. It is paid, the timeline is predictable, and you have significant control over the message.

It is worth being clear-eyed about what this gives you and what it does not.

For a business that needs a credibility asset quickly and is honest internally about what it is, Brand Connect can be a reasonable purchase. For a founder who wants journalists to take them seriously, it is not a substitute for earned coverage.

How long does it realistically take?

Founders consistently underestimate this. Here is what we see in practice.

Anyone promising an editorial feature inside four weeks is either selling branded content or hoping you will not check.

The mistakes that kill most Forbes pitches

• Pitching the company instead of the story. Editors do not cover companies. They cover developments.
• Mass emailing every journalist at once. They talk to each other. It is obvious, and it is remembered.
• No proof. If your numbers cannot be verified, the piece cannot run.
• Chasing daily. One follow-up is professional. Four is a block.
• Starting with Forbes. A founder with no press history is a harder sell. Build a track record in regional and trade press first.

A more realistic sequence

The founders who eventually get editorial coverage in national business media almost never start there. The pattern that works looks like this:

1. Get covered in trade and regional publications where your story is new.
2. Build a small but real body of coverage that a journalist can check.
3. Develop one genuinely distinctive angle, backed by data.
4. Approach national business media with that angle and that track record.
5. Use any resulting coverage to earn the next, larger placement.

It is slower than buying a placement. It is also the only version that compounds.

Where to start

Before you approach anyone, write down the single sentence a journalist would use to describe your story. If that sentence is not interesting to somebody outside your industry, the problem is the story, not the outreach.

Trace Presence is a PR and marketing agency in India that works with founders on exactly this — finding the angle, building the evidence, and placing it with the right journalist. If you want an honest read on whether your story is ready, we are happy to give you one.