More about NewsWatch
TL;DR: NewsWatch TV contacted us with the promise of airing our ad in 95 million households. We paid 5,500 USD. They created a poor ad, and Google Analytics registered no visitors when they “aired” us. We think they’re scammers who didn’t do any advertising.
The Sales and Content Manager of NewsWatch TV contacted us with the promise of “reaching over 95 million households across the United States”.
We’re a small startup with a successful crowdfunding campaign behind us which is probably how they found us. Our sales are reasonable, but we can use more exposure, so their offer seemed like a great opportunity.
I provided my phone number to their Sales and Content Manager, and we had a short talk. He’s been very persuasive and told me that we’ll do great.
NewsWatch offered various packages to choose from. We choose their basic 5,500 USD package, which included many perks, such as getting featured on their social media channels and an online campaign with 500,000 impressions.
Just for the record, check out their Twitter account. They barely get any likes for their posts.
There was also a Deluxe Package for 7,750 USD and an Exposure Package for 10,900 USD offering more perks. Luckily, we didn’t pick those.
After signing the contract and paying the 5,500 USD, we were put into contact with an Account Manager and Executive Producer. I’ve written a script and sent product samples to them, and they made a minute-long video ad according to my script. The first version was very poor, so I asked for a better revision, but still a far cry from our existing product marketing videos.
Did You Know?
NewsWatch TV airs on AMC and ION network. It features segment on consumer, movie, technical report, etc. Moreover, the YouTube channel of NewsWatch TV has 1.2 million subscribes, where the latest news shared. However, the number of subscribers do not count for the legitimacy.
We were very excited when getting aired, hoping for great exposure and strong sales. But when NewsWatch “aired” our campaign, Google Analytics didn’t show the slightest traffic peak.
We have about a thousand visitors daily, so airing our ad to “95 million households” should have resulted in a huge traffic peak.
I asked NewsWatch about the lack of traffic and they said they were surprised and offered no legit explanation.
If NewsWatch told us that they’ll create an overpriced video ad, with no marketing, that’d have been an honest promise. But the false marketing promises make them scammers, in our opinion.
As the last word, we’re an actual company, but we don’t want to get sued, hence this review was submitted anonymously.
NewsWatch TV’s false advertising promises cost us big
The author’s experience with NewsWatch TV serves as a cautionary tale for other small businesses seeking to advertise on television. The company promised to produce a high-quality, professionally produced 30-second advertisement that accurately represented their company and products. However, the advertisement they received did not accurately portray their company and services. They paid the full amount and waited for their advertisement to air before 95 million viewers, as NewsWatch TV had promised.
There was no discernible increase in website traffic as the weeks progressed into months. The author made contact with NewsWatch TV, but they did not respond. After conducting independent research, they determined that their advertisement had never aired. Their media monitoring company was unable to find any mention of their advertisement on NewsWatch TV.
Before signing an advertising contract, the author should have conducted additional research, as the loss was catastrophic. They discovered that a large number of other local businesses had also been duped by NewsWatch TV. By sharing their experience, the author hopes to prevent similar frauds from occurring in other businesses.
Before entering into an advertising agreement, small businesses should perform due diligence, as was learned. You should not believe claims that your message will be delivered to millions of households unless you can independently verify that number. Companies that make extravagant claims for pennies should be viewed with skepticism. It is essential to rely on your intuition and not allow con artists to steal your money.
