Media Buys

A good understanding of basic media terminology provides a solid foundation of knowledge with which to build and execute strong, smart media plans.

Television Terminology:

Dayparts: How the day is broken down for buying purposes.
Early Morning (EM): 5am - 9am (CST)
Day: 9a - 4p
Early Fringe (EF)/ Early News (EN): 4p - 6p
Prime Access (PA): 6p - 7p
Prime: 7p - 10p
Late News (LN): 10p - 10:35p
Late Fringe (LF): 10:35p - 1a
Overnight: 1a-5a
Billboard: (Usually) free airtime (generally 10-12 seconds in length) given to an advertiser, generally as a bonus to an ad buy.
Spot: A commercial announcement

Radio Terminology:

Dayparts: How the day is broken down for buying purposes.
Morning Drive: 5am - 10am (CST)
Day: 10a - 3p
Afternoon Drive: 3p - 7p
Evening: 7p - 12m
Overnight: 12m - 5a
Billboard: (Usually) free airtime (generally 10-12 seconds in length) given to an advertiser, generally as a bonus to an ad buy.
Spot: A commercial announcement.

Strategic Media - A disciplined, analytical, data-driven approach to direct response radio advertising that quickly determines what works and what doesn't.

AC Nielson - Surviving Your Media Buys: Executing Marketing Targets in Television

Important Statistics

Reach: The percent of the target audience that will see or hear an ad at least one time.
Frequency: The number of times the average target audience member that was reached sees or hears an ad.
Rating Point: Rating points represent the percent of the total available target audience impressions that are delivered by a media vehicle.
GRP stands for Gross Rating Points, the sum of all the rating points for a specific time period.
TRP stands for Target Rating Points, the rating points delivered to a particular target audience for a specific time period.
Audience: The number of homes or people exposed to an advertising vehicle.
CPM (Cost per Thousand): Used as a comparison tool to determine the efficiency of different media vehicles. Cost of a media vehicle divided by the targeted impressions expressed in thousands. For example: a media vehicle that costs $10,000 and has an audience of 500,000 Women 18-34 has a CPM of $20.
CPP (Cost per Point): CPP’s represent how much it would cost to deliver one target rating point, or 1% of target audience. Primarily used in television and radio buying as a comparison and planning tool to determine how much media can be afforded at a given budget level. For example, a unit that costs $1,000 and delivers a 10 Women 25-34 rating has a CPP of $100.
Impression: A single potential exposure of a message to a member of your target audience. The number of pairs of eyes or ears that will be exposed to a media vehicle.
Share: The percentage of households or target audience members using television or radio that are tuned to a particular program