How to advertise

How to advertise on TV

Our jargon

So that you have a clear understanding of how advertising on television is planned and measured we have highlighted the more common technical terms that you will hear people use when talking about television advertising.

Universe

The people in a given transmission area capable of receiving a signal - your potential audience such as Housewives with Children, ABC1 Men etc.

TVR (television rating)

A rating is 1% of the potential viewing audience or universe.

For example: An STV commercial, or programme, achieving 15 Adult TVRs would have been seen by 15% of all adults in the transmission area, (15% of the Universe).

Every commercial that is broadcast has a TVR value attached to it. This allows advertisers to calculate the exact number of people who have watched their commercials and their socio-demographic profiles.

Daypart

The television day, for advertising purposes on STV, is split into a number of segments called dayparts, which reflect the level and type of viewers at different times of the day:

09:30 - 17:25 Daytime
17:26 - 22:59 Peaktime
23:00 - 24:00 Late Night

Coverage or reach (%)

The percentage of an advertiser’s target audience that is reached during a campaign is known as campaign coverage. This is the percentage of viewers within the relevant Universe, (transmission area), who have seen your commercial; this figure is generally calculated across the total campaign period.

For example: If a campaign achieves 1+ coverage of 70% of adults, this equates to 70% of all adults in the universe having seen your commercial one or more times.

Frequency

This is the average number of times your commercial has been seen by an individual.

Copy

The creative content of the commercial.

Putting it all together

A standard campaign weight is 100 TVR’s per week. Typically this would consist of:

  • 9 Daytime Spots
  • 6 Peak spots
  • 2 Late Night Spots;

After a week this campaign would be expected to achieve 1+ coverage of 41%. (Spring/Summer) and 45% (Autumn/Winter). Taking a universe of 1,000,000 adults this equates to 450,000 adults having seen the commercial one or more times (at 45% 1+ coverage).

If this campaign bought 100 TVR’s across a four-week period (Autumn/Winter) the campaign would be expected to achieve the following:

  • 400 TVRs (100 per week)
  • 1+ Cover of 70% (70% of all adults in the universe having seen your commercial one or more times)
  • 4+ Cover 35% (35% of all adults in the universe having seen your commercial four or more times)

(Source: BARB/SPC)

If any of these terms need further explanation, we will be happy to clarify them for you. STV will provide advertisers with post campaign analysis using the standard and universally accepted industry research supplied by BARB.

What will it cost?

The cost of a television advertising campaign is affected by several variables:

  • The transmission area. The bigger the potential audience, the larger the budget required.
  • The time of year. Some times of the year have more demand than others and this has an impact on cost. The table opposite outlines the areas of high and low demand throughout a typical year.
  • Commercial time-length. Commercials are normally broadcast in units of 10 seconds. Campaigns with longer commercials naturally cost more than those utilising shorter time lengths.
  • Daypart. Viewing patterns throughout the day differ. To advertise in peak-time when the audience is highest costs more than in daytime or at late night.
  • Frequency of transmission. The greater the number of times a commercial is shown, the more the campaign will cost. Advertisers generally try to ensure that their commercial is seen, on average, at least four times

To download rate-cards for individual transmission areas, click here or contact us for a tailored proposal based on your specific advertising requirements.