Video Glossary
Adjacency: A group of advertisements positioned next to a particular TV or radio program. Also referred to as commercial break positions.
Advertising Weight: The level of advertising over a period of time, which is expressed in gross rating points, impressions, target audience reached, etc.
Affidavit: An official statement (usually notarized) that stations provide with invoices which confirms that the commercial ran at the time stated on the invoice and indicated on the insertion order.
Air Date: The first broadcast of a commercial or the exact date of a particular TV or radio program.
Availability: Often referred to as "avails", which are unsold units of time available for broadcasters to sell to advertisers and for advertisers to place their commercials.
Average Frequency: The number of times the average audience member is exposed to an advertising message, which is derived from gross rating points and reach.
Bonus Spots: Additional TV or radio placements given to an advertiser at no charge as a benefit for continued advertising or as an incentive for participating in a promotional sponsorship/media package.
Break Position: The advertising space between two programs rather than in the middle of one program available to advertisers.
Broadcast Calendar: The industry accepted calendar used for accounting and billing purposes, where weeks run from Monday to Sunday (7 full days) and each month is four to five weeks long.
Clutter: The term used to describe all of the advertising messages aimed at consumers in a given medium. (i.e. In TV media it is all the non-program minutes, such as commercials, public service announcements, station promotions, etc.)
Cost Per Point (CPP): Cost to reach one percent of the households or individuals in a given market or geographic area.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM): Cost to reach 1,000 units of an advertising audience. This scale is used to measure the efficiency among media and media schedules.
Coverage Area: The specific geography a media vehicle spans. In TV and radio, it means the area the station's signal reaches. In print, it refers to the circulation area.
Daypart: The time segments used by broadcast media to divide the day into equal parts, often determined by programming or whether the broadcast is local or through a network. Common day parts are 6a-7p; 6a-Mid; 6a-10a; 7p-10p, etc. Dayparts have different advertising rates depending upon the size of the audience during that particular time segment.
Direct Response Advertising: An advertising message that requires a prompt response to purchase a product or request more information from the audience it reaches.
Drive Time: Prime listening times for radio stations. Considered to be Monday through Friday 6 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.
Exclusivity: An agreement that states a media vehicle will not run advertising directly in competition with advertiser purchasing advertising space.
First Refusal: The opportunity given to an advertiser to extend sponsorship rights of particular program or vehicle before it is offered to another advertiser.
Fixed Position: Advertising space that remains the same over time, such as the inside cover of a magazine or a specific break position.
Heavy-up: An increase in advertising activity for a limited period of time.
Households Using Television (HUT): A broadcast research terms which indicates the percent of homes with a television set on during a specific time period.
Make-good: The comparable unit of advertising offered by a vehicle at no charge when the original spot or ad did not run or ran incorrectly.
Network: Two or more stations that are joined by a broadcast line to transmit the same program for a few studios simultaneously.
Network Affiliate: A television or radio station that designates a portion of its air-time to network programs.
O.T.O. (One Time Only): Refers to a TV or radio special program only being offered once.
Persons Using Radio (PUT): The percent of an area's population listening to the radio at a specific time.
Pre-emption: Occurs when one advertiser's local TV commercial gets substituted by another advertiser paying a higher price for the spot.
Rate Card: An official statement by a medium that shows the advertising costs, issue dates, program names, closing dates and other requirements necessary to place an advertising schedule.
Rating: The estimate of the audience size, which is expressed as one percent of the total population.
Reach: The unduplicated percent of a potential audience exposed to advertising one or more times during a given period of time.
Run Of Schedule or Run Of Station (R.O.S.): A broadcast schedule where specific programs and air times have not been requested by the advertiser, resulting often times in a lower advertising rate. Similar to Run Of Press (R.O.P.) placements in print advertising.
Superstation: An independent station whose signal is transmitted to many markets via a satellite.
Syndicated Program: A program bought by a station or advertiser from an independent organization and not a network.
