A woman from "The Balancing Act" wanted a specific division marketing manager, saying right off the bat, "Is he available?"  I asked what in reference to, and she said, ?We?re a morning talk show on Lifetime, and I?m calling on behalf of my producer.  Is he available??  I replied that I needed more information, and she didn?t know what I meant!  I threw out advertising to start, and she named his particular brand, which didn?t help, then inquired once more, "Is he available?"  I put her on hold for a few seconds, then offered to take a message, because he wasn?t at his desk.  She pressed for leaving a voicemail or obtaining his email address, both of which run counter to company policy.  She finally gave her name as Lisa Talbot at this number.  After reading the comments here, I decided not to relay the note; but now that she?s phoned again, I?ll advise the manager as to what could be in store.

They called my CEO today (call was fielded by his assistant) and refused to be routed to marketing.  Said marketing wouldn't understand the opportunity they needed to discuss with the CEO personally.  Gave the usual song & dance - wanted him for a 5-minute "industry report", interview with Terry Bradshaw, major news networks, etc.  Never a good sign when a media-related company is unwilling to coordinate through the company's marketing group.   Here are the details they provided since I see from this thread there is an issue with the "Company Name Du Jour":

NetWorthTelevision*: http://networthtelevision.com
Produced by Studio Bradshaw:
786.536.1624
(hung up on executive assistant before giving his name)
*also gave the wrong URL on the phone, above is the URL that syncs up with the info he provided

The number I received a call from was (561) 826-0675.  An assistant named Rita called me to schedule an appointment with one of the producers named John Carter (probably a bogus name!).  I had the call with "John" yesterday and of course he told me how amazing I was and how I would be a great match for his show as long as I pay $26,000 to be on it!!!

I just filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's office of Florida.  I'm furious that they:

1. Wasted my time
2. Thought I would be stupid enough to fall for their scam

This seems to be an ongoing problem in Florida so it's unlikely the attorney general is doing anything to stop these scam artists.  Buyer beware!!!

Good one. Any reputable local video company would and could do a piece for a quarter of that, give you ownership rights, and you'd have full creative control.

Apparently your company has too much money - that's the only reason I can see for what amounts to throwing it away on hokey production values, and overpriced work.

What a joke.

got the same call today. they prey on people who do recent press releases.

Well did it work? I never saw a repost.

This company iz nothing but a scam. They where investigated and almost shut down by the florida attorney general. Googl platinum television group. They change thir name on a regular basis to avoid being found out that they are nothing but a scam

Art of living marilu henner called and wanted 20k to be on their show. Is this legal? I did not know that you have to pay to be on a show. It must be a scam. They also want the money up front

Art of living marilu henner. They call me every month they will not stop. Art of living marilu henner www.watchartofliving.com

Thank you for the warning. Art of living marilu henner called me friday and wanted me to pay 25k. L. They where almost shut down by the attorney general see atinum television groupUnreal

Art of living marilu henner. They obvioisly use an seo guy trying to bury all these negative posts art of living marilu henner. Watchartofliving.com this is nothing but a pay to play scam

Art of living marilu henner is nothing but a pay to play scam. They use car sales tactics by keeping you on the phone for an hour and then tell you that it will cost you 25k to be on the show meaning that ylu are pYing all the costs. This company has been investigated by the fla. Attorney general and almost shut down. See platinum television group. Marilu henner should not be involved with these characters. They dont even use their real names which I am sure is illegL. Art of living marilu henner is just another scam watchartofliving.com

You must work for the scammers...what BS.

I just got a call from her as well. We are in the toy business. Thanks for the info it is good to know she is a SCAMMER!!!

Makes me think you just didn't have the money or personality to make this work for you.

Sorry you're poor and boring. :(

You're a shill if you have nothing better to do than act like everyone who says they had a good experience is wrong.

Idiot.

Smells like our old friends at Vision Media:
http://800notes.com/news/igTVfSHjzwDIfAjMa14mMg

Engaging some third-string celebrity to "host" their dodgy programs is part of their MO.  These hosts merely tape a generic intro and outro for use on all the shows, nothing customized for the victims, er, clients.

Obvious shill is obvious.

Please correct above message the phone number was 786 536 1625

Georgia Rhodes calling from 305 503 0294 Today America TV Show asking to call her producer Bob Mutter at 786 536 1625 ext. 241 so we can schedule you in an interview with Bob Mutter about your business and how you can get lazy a** Americans to be more efficient (her words).Crap!  We are the most productive people in the world. Look at the French - 2 mos vacation for what??? I digressed but it's  a scam people!

Georgia Rhodes calling from 305 503 0294 Today America TV Show asking to call her producer Bob Mutter at 786 536 6125 ext. 241 so we can schedule you in an interview with Bob Mutter about your business and how you can get lazy a** Americans to be more efficient (her words).Crap!  We are the most productive people in the world. Look at the French - 2 mos vacation for what??? I digressed but it's  a scam people!

Woman said her name was Britt Matlock, Assistant to producer Ryan DeFreitas of Inside Business... wanted to talk to company persident about programming and opportunities

Just received a call 3/11 @ 10am from someone named Marie Sachs. It was a 561-995-5352
ext 105. She stated she was calling about doing a Spring show on the ION Network concerning Marriage. She had recently seem my new book on marriage so, I guess they are targeting authors now. She stated they needed a Schedueling fee $5900 for production cost in order to do a segment concerning my book.  It was sounding great until the $5900 came up. Immediately a RED flag popped up in my head.  She gave me a website: www.livinginstyle.tv
She didn't really know the name she was calling and the first time she mentioned the production fee she said $5000, but later in the conversation she changed it to $5900. I immediately hung up and decided to search for this under scams.
She did email me a pdf of a production package East Shore Productions.
This is a scam!!!!

played along with the calls and got them to give me an address where I could "send samples of my product".  Researched the address and found a company located in the same building. Called there (I think a tutoring company) and talked to the owner about them.  Ha! Total Scam!!!!
Call the FL Atty General and report EVERY TIME they call your biz.  Mention the fact that they say they must screen you to be PICKED for their tv spot.  Sick of predatory scum like this.

I paid for advertising with PRWeb and the only leads I received are from fake TV shows.  Marty Glass called on behalf of Lee Caplan at The Balancing Act, (954.979.8323 ex 139), and Angelo Ferraro of Art if Living (954.379.4348) and Peter Pithit who claims to be a TV producer (the number he left is 561.995.5352 ext: 114) which is "East Shore Productions offering to feature your company on their Living in Style television program. Dennis D'Agosta will give you a 20-minute sales pitch and then ask you to pay $19,000 to produce a TV segment about your business."  

I hope these business will be shut down to protect future scams.

Hey Steve,

How about being specific about your "experience" at their "studios"?  Where were the studios?  Do you have an actual physical address?  Who did you meet with?  What did you discuss?  And what did you do during your time there?  Be specific--names of people you met with, a website for the company (this is 2010 and we all have websites no, don't we?).  Convince me and everyone else that you're not a SHILL.  Seriously, do you think we're all that gullible?

I am a marketing director for an international energy company. About a year ago, we did a segment with the show Inside Business with Fred Thompson after receiving an initial call from an assistant named Britt for one of the show's producers. We were approached about being "considered" for a story on energy efficiency and new emerging technology.

While we were extremely skeptical over the money that the show said would be our responsibility to be part of the story, we do over $2 billion in gross revenue per year, so the fee that the show charged was not a huge hit towards our marketing budget.

While we had to pay what the company called a "scheduling fee" of $19,700, ultimately our company decided that the financial commitment was worth it on our part due to several benefits that we saw, specifically the ownership rights to the segment after it's completion and having some creative control over the content of the show's scripting and editing process. While this may bring us business from the show, the benefit we see is the ability to hardcopy the show and use in marketing materials.

I understand the perception that these calls may be unreal or bogus or a scam. I can only speak for our company and that we found a benefit to us. While many companies may find the financials unacceptable or too high, we found that a piece featuring our company as a leader in our market and Fred Thompson as the host was worth it FOR US.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but we were given everything we were contractually promised as well as we as a company lived up to our end of the contract as well. Saying anything about this company or show without having actually done business with them is both unfair and bad business.

i just recieved the same call. This time from an Ann Smith? really? calling on behalf of an Angelo Ferraro and Today in America show? they are relentless. They call me with a different scam and different names 4 or 5 times a year.

I agree. i get this company calling me at least 5 times a year with a different show. this time its today in America with terry Bradshaw. Whats next? stay away!

did some research and this is what I found.
Now they are US media with show hosts like Terry Bradshaw, MarryLou Henner and Fred Thompson

The company was called PTG studios, Platinum Television Group, New line Media and the latest DBA name to avoid detection is Encore television group. This company is located in Broward county Fl and is run by Paul Doug Scott, Jack Schwartz, Nick Veser or Angelo Ferraro. They all use fake names of course by now as if you research on Ripoff report .com or even listen to one of these scam calls at www.miraviroc.com, you will know what the call they tried to set up with your companies were about before you had to go through the BS just to hear the price tag of thier phony service. Call any televison network they say they air on, the network will never have heard of them, or warn you against them. Ask them if you do engage in a call with these snake oil salesman to speak to at least 4 clients they claim to have worked with that are happy with the results of their grossly overpromised and underdelivered "television shows they produce" which only means they hastily put one together, after they have found no less than 5 sucker sompanies to fall for their well written scripts and they all paid anywhere from $19,700 to 38,700 and even in some cases for supposed "dedicated" half hour specials to one company, over $100,000. Of which they keep no less than 80% as profit. The worst enemy to this company is one they call that has the intelligence to ask logical questions about their credibility. They have several pending lawsuits for what amounts to fraud on the websites of the Broward county courts and the Attorney General of the State of Florida's website. Currently, Greg Gumble was lied to and is currently suing the company, whatever name it is going by this week, and it's owner Paul Dough Scott. Although he is the owner, his ex-partner Walter Burton of Lighthouse Point, Fl got out and continued to recieve "buy out" payments for subsequent years because he no longer wanted to be dragged into court with Paul Doug Scott. To this company, settling lawsuits with companies they have scammed that persue their $ back, or want retribution, is just part of doing this kind of disreputable business. I write this so to warn any companies they have had an appointment setter set up a "front" which they call the initial call with a company "DM" or decision maker with a telemarketer in an cubicle with a headset that calls themselves a "Creative Director" or "Associate Producer" or some made up title. Then after a "guest" on a show that if you were to ask them to see one that is currently airing on television or will in the near future, they will double talk around it and offer to send you a video clip or DVD in hopes that will be enough for a comapny not to push them into admitting they have nothing airing or they will say it is in another part of the country right now which thy cannot see. The fact that Paul Doug Scott is the owner, his lacky Jack Schwartz is the real operational head now, since Paul Doug Scott is listed in so many lawsuits and on internet scam watchdog websites. Watch out for him as he is the slickest of them all. They know full well they are fooling people which is why they pay well or give out "spiffs" which are bonuses for the most sales to quell any conscience that after months or years of working for them, salespeople just look the other way. Once the companies they brought into the "studio" have paid, they are forbidden to speak with them again. At least until the first one calls in to complain to them personally that no one will take their calls, or nothing has been done for them once they have paid for this "segment on a show" that is sold as going to air 50 to 100 times both nationally or regionally on high profile television networks that never happens. Or if it does, it airs once or twice in some nowhere Iowa market and delivers nowhere near the millions of households they say it will. I write all of this becase this company mocks justice and laughs at the fact they have made millions of dollars getting away with this for over 10 years.

This is a scam, period. No legitimate editorial outlet EVER offers "pay for play" opportunities. I've booked our executives on FOX national news, CNN, every major daily paper in the country and all the Los Angeles area networks.

Here's why it's a scam:

1. They'll ask to have an "informal conversation" with your top executive because you are a leader in your industry and they want to come up with some story topics. (Legit news already knows the story they want to tell, and also, they realize how valuable executives' time is.)

2. They don't let you talk to the producer to find out more about the story. (Legit news producers are the ones who call about the story in the first place.)

3. They ask you for payment. (No legit news outlet EVER does this. And if they do, there's hell to pay.)

4. Their shows "air" on many networks, including CNN, Fox Business, Fox Sports and Discovery. (Usually shows are on just one network, until they are in reruns, like "I Love Lucy.)

5. Terry Bradshaw is not a newsman. 'Nuff said.

There's nothing wrong with having an infomercial -- it's that this company doesn't tell you until you're hours and hours into it that they require payment.

They had the gall to call us back two years after we told them not to call us again, or to direct any inquiries to our advertising department.