A major household bills story became a national and regional broadcast moment for Uswitch, with expert commentary secured across BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC News, Sky News, ITV News, LBC and BBC regional radio.
Reactive Overview
The energy price cap created a major live news moment for UK households, with bills rising again and millions of people looking for clear advice on what to do next. For Uswitch, the challenge was not just to comment on the number, but to make the story useful for viewers and listeners.
Be Broadcast helped shape the broadcast approach around practical consumer advice: what the price cap means, why households should take meter readings, whether fixing could help, how to avoid overpaying and what further rises could mean for winter bills.
The activity also used localised heating switch-on data to make the story work harder for regional broadcasters. Rather than only talking about a national price cap, the campaign gave local stations a reason to ask: when does your area typically put the heating on, and how does that collide with rising bills?
How Be Broadcast Responded
- Built a broadcast plan around the price cap announcement and the date the rise came into force
- Managed national TV, national radio and regional BBC opportunities across a fast-moving news cycle
- Helped coordinate multiple Uswitch spokespeople, including Richard, Sabrina, Ben and Molly
- Added local heating switch-on data to strengthen regional relevance
- Supported briefing documents, call times, live interviews, pre-records and BBC hub logistics
- Kept the messaging focused on practical advice for households, rather than letting the story become purely political or technical
Broadcast Results in Context
- Secured BBC Breakfast coverage with Richard Neudegg
- Delivered BBC Radio 5 Live coverage around the price cap announcement
- Secured BBC News Channel and BBC World coverage with Sabrina Hoque
- Delivered Sky News coverage with Ben Gallizzi
- Secured ITV Evening News coverage with Sabrina Hoque and Chris Choi
- Delivered LBC coverage and broadcaster-owned online use
- Secured BBC regional coverage across major hubs including South West, North West, Scotland, Yorkshire and other local BBC outlets
- Used regional heating switch-on data to make a national price cap story relevant to local audiences
- Helped Uswitch stay visible across both the announcement phase and the later “prices rise today” moment
The Expert Angle
The expert angle was deliberately practical. The story was not just “bills are going up”. It was: what should households actually do?
That meant Uswitch spokespeople could talk clearly about meter readings, fixed deals, standard variable tariffs, heating use, regional differences and the possibility of further rises in January. The commentary helped broadcasters move from headline shock into useful advice.
The local heating data added an extra layer. It gave BBC regional stations something specific to their audiences, turning a national cost-of-living story into a local conversation about when households typically start heating their homes.
The Challenge
- The price cap is a crowded media moment, with suppliers, analysts, charities, politicians and government voices all competing for space
- The story needed to stay useful for consumers, not drift into abstract policy debate
- Uswitch had to handle national TV, national radio and multiple BBC regional requests without overloading spokespeople
- The messaging needed to work across live TV, phone interviews, regional radio, BBC hubs and broadcaster-owned online
- Local data had to be simple enough for presenters to use without making the interviews too technical
Why It Shows Retained Value
This is the value of retained reactive broadcast PR. The price cap is predictable as a diary moment, but the media agenda around it changes quickly. Broadcasters may want national analysis, regional advice, a consumer case study, a live expert, a quick soundbite or a practical explainer.
Because Be Broadcast was already close to the Uswitch team, the story and the spokespeople, it could move quickly across all of those needs. That meant Uswitch was not just part of the price cap conversation once. It was visible across the wider broadcast news cycle, from national TV through to regional BBC radio.
