Media Hyperopia

Media Dictionary

A list of all the high-falutin and sometimes hanus acronyms and terms a media planner could and probably will throw at you AKA the last 3 years of my degree in 4,000 Characters.

AARDS / Australian Advertising Rate and Data Service.

Adjacency / An advertising pod positioned next to a particular TV or radio program. Also called commercial break positions.

Agate Line / A unit of measurement for newspaper advertising which measures one column wide with 14 agate lines per inch.

Advertising Weight / The level of advertising support over a period of time, expressed in gross rating points, impressions, target audience reached, etc.

Affiliate / a station associated with a network by contract to broadcast the network’s programs.

Aided Recall / A research technique where the respondent is given aid to help remember all or parts of advertising.

Air Date / the first broadcast of a commercial; also refers to the exact date of a particular TV or radio program

Analogue / A method of conveying information by way of a continuous signal

API / Application Programing Interface / the ways by which an application program may request services from libraries and/or operating systems.

Audilog / The diary used by household members in Nielsen’s local rating sample which records what stations and programs they viewed during a week’s time.

Audience Flow / The audience movement in electronic broadcast media (TV and radio) from station to station. This is also known as Ebb & Flow and is usually measured in 15 minute blocks. The measured audience has three alternatives (i) stay on the station already selected (ii) change to another station (iii) turn off or turn on.

Availability (“avails”) / unsold units of time available for broadcasters to sell to advertisers. Also refers to a station’s submission of programs and rating estimates for advertising planning and buying.

Average Quarter-Hour Rating / The audience estimate reported by a Surveyor for television and radio. It provides the average number of persons or households who watched/listened for at least 5 minutes of the 15 minute segment being reported.

BDI / Brand Development Index / A measure of the strength of a brand’s sales in a particular geographic area indexed to the national sales average.

Bleed / A term used for print advertising that extends all the way to the edge of the page with no margin. Many magazines charge a premium for the bleed, usually 15%.

Bonus Spot / Additional TV or radio spot provided to an advertiser at no charge to raise the overall audience delivery of the schedule.

Bounce Rate / Represents the percentage of initial visitors to a site who “bounce” away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the same site. Bounce Rate = Total Number of Visits Viewing One Page ÷ Total Number of Visits

Break Position / A broadcast commercial aired between two programs instead of in the middle of one program.

Broadcast Calendar / An industry-accepted calendar used mainly for accounting and billing purposes. Weeks run Monday-Sunday, and each month is four or five weeks long.

Burst / Refers to television scheduling and is when high levels of support are scheduled over a short period of time.

Cancellation Deadline / Is the period outside which airtime may be cancelled without incurring a cost penalty, eg; a ‘delete and charge’. Television stations are not obliged to cancel airtime within the stated cancellation deadline, however may do so with, or without, penalty depending on the circumstances involved. The cancellation deadline on television is usually 6-10 weeks from air-date. Similar rules apply to the cancellation of magazine and newspaper advertising. However, the period prior to the appearance date when the advertisement can be cancelled varies from 1 to 8 week

CCM / Column Centimetres

CDI / Category Development Index / A measurement of a brand’s sales potential using sales of all brands within a category in a specific market indexed to national sales average.

Circulation / The total number of distributed copies of a publication at a specified time. Also, in broadcast, the total number of households within the station’s coverage area. In outdoor, the number of people passing the billboards who have an opportunity to see the advertising.

Clearance / A station’s agreement to carry a particular program

Clicks or Click Throughs / The number of times a specific ad is physically “clicked on” by users as they browse a particular web page.

Clutter / The term given to the proliferation of advertising messages aimed at consumers. In TV, it refers to all nonprogram minutes, such as commercials, station promotions, billboards, public service announcements, etc.

Confidence Level / A statistical term applied to sample sizes to describe the probability that a true statistic will fall within a given range. Confidence levels are expressed in terms of ‘standard errors’.

Commercial Inventory / Is the amount of airtime available to be sold by television stations to prospective advertisers. FTA: Primetime Max: 15 Mins in any one hour NonPrimtetime Max: 14 Mins / Pay TV: Self Regulated avg = 5 Mins Per Hour

Cost Efficiency / The relationship between a medium’s (or a media schedule’s) audience and the cost of using that medium (or media schedule) to reach a specific audience.

For broadcast media, ‘Cost per TARP’ (CPT) is the most common measure of cost efficiency. For print, ‘Cost per Thousand’ (CPM) - circulation or readership - is most often used to measure cost efficiency.

Cost Per Rating Point / Cost Per Point, CPP, Cost Per GRP) / The cost to reach one percent of the universe, households or individuals, in a given market or geographic area.

CPI / Consumer Price Index. A measure of inflation complied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics

CPM / Cost Per Thousand / The cost to reach 1,000 units of audience, households or individuals, for advertising. Used as a measure of efficiency among media and media schedules.

CPM = (Advertising Cost / Viewership) * 1000

CPT / Cost Per TARP. The cost of advertising to reach 1% of the target audience.

CPT = Cost per spot / TARP. Note : CPTs can NOT be compared across market as they are based on different population potentials whereas CPMs can as they are expressed as costs per thousand head of population.

Congestion / A state occurring in a part of a network when the message traffic is so heavy that it slows down network response time.

Cookies / Small files that are downloaded to your computer when you browse certain web pages. Cookies hold information that can be retrieved by other web pages on the site. Some cookies are programmed with an expiration date so that they are automatically deleted after a period of time.

Cume / Cumulative Audience / Another way of expressing reach. The total number of different people or households exposed to advertising at least once during the media schedule.

D & C / Delete and Charge. Occurs when you have unavoidable cancellation of airtime time within the non-cancellable period - for example, if the product is out-of-stock or not available. The airtime is invoiced and paid for, and the credit taken up at a later date.

DART / Digital Audio Rapid Transfer / Method of distributing radio commercials via the technology of ISDN or On Ramp (broadband).

Datacasting / Will change the way the TV set is used and make it a far more valuable device by bringing the interactive world from the personal computer into the television. It will deliver a range of new content and services to television, from text and graphical information to still pictures, sounds and some video.

Data Fusion / Data fusion uses common variables to match individual respondents in one survey to those in another. This allows inferences to be made on a rational basis about aggregates of individuals. For example, ACNielsen’s Panorama data collects all information from a single source - with the exception of television and radio data which is ‘fused onto’ the single source data using the industry currency ratings data.

Daypart / One of the time segments into which the day is divided by broadcast media, determined by type of programming and who provides it (network or local).

Direct Response Advertising / Any advertising message that calls for a prompt response to purchase a product or request more information.

Distress Space / Distress space is offered at a reduced rate when a magazine or newspaper is either not full or when another advertiser cancels a booking at the scheduled time of printing.

Double Truck / A newspaper ad unit that uses two facing full pages, including the gutter or fold

Dub / The physical copy of the advertisement that is sent to each television or radio station.

Duplication / The number or percent of the target audience in one media vehicle also exposed to another vehicle.

DMA / Designated Market Area / Nielsen’s term for geographical areas made up of exclusive counties based on which home market stations receive the predominant share of viewing.

DNS / Domain Name System / A database system which looks up host IP addresses based upon domain names

Drive Time / The dayparts used in radio to signify primary listening being done in cars. Generally considered to be Monday-Friday 6- 10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.

Effective Frequency / The theory of Effective Frequency proposes that an advertisement needs to be seen by a consumer a certain number of times in order for effective communication to take place, and therefore for the advertising to elicit the desired consumer response. The desired consumer response may range from gaining attention, through building awareness and understanding, to prompting direct consumer action. The effective frequency level for a particular campaign will be determined by an analysis of a number of factors including, a brand’s purchase and usage cycle, brand share, competitive activity, consumer attitudes towards the brand, creative impact and the medium to be used

Effective Reach / The number, or percentage of individuals reached at, or above the effective frequency level.

EGN / Abbreviation for “Early General News”

Exclusivity / An agreement whereby a media vehicle agrees to run no advertising directly competitive to the advertiser purchasing the media vehicle or program.

Exclusive Audience / Or ‘Unduplicated Audience’ is the number, or percentage, of a given target audience that is reached only by a nominated media vehicle (or television program) but not by competitive media vehicles.

Facing / In outdoor, the number of billboards at a location facing in the same direction. In marketing, the number of units facing the shopper on a shelf in a grocery, drug, discount store. etc.

First Refusal / The opportunity for an advertiser to extend sponsorship rights of a program or vehicle before it is offered to another advertiser.

Flame / A public post or email message that expresses a strong opinion or criticism. Flames can be fun when they allow people to vent their feelings, then return to the topic at hand. Others are simply insulting and can lead to flame wars.

Flame War / A series of public posts in which people flame one another rather than contribute useful information

Flighting / A technique for extending advertising dollars using periods of media activity interspersed with periods of inactivity.

Fringe Time / In television refers to the evening hours that precede and follow prime time, usually 5.00-6.00pm and 10.30pm - 12.00 Midnight.

FPC / Full Page Colour

FPM / Full Page Mono

Gross Impressions / The combined audiences of several media vehicles or several announcements within a vehicle, leaving in the duplication among the audiences.

GRP / Gross Rating Points / The sum of individual ratings in a media plan.

Guarantee / A commitment to the advertiser by a medium that should audience delivery fall short of what was estimated, the advertiser will receive bonus advertising to meet the expected CPM or GRP’s.

Gutter / The blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication.

Handle / A nickname used in online communications.

Hit / A single user accessing a single file from a web server. A unit of measure often used erroneously to evaluate the popularity of a web site.

Heavy-up / An increase in advertising activity for a limited period of time.

Hiatus / A scheduled period of inactivity between advertising flights.

ID / Station identification of its call letters and location, channel or frequency. Also refers to any commercial message less than ten seconds long.

IFC / Abbreviation for ‘Inside Front Cover’

ISDN / Integrated Services Digital Network /A technology offered by telephone carriers that allows for the rapid transfer of voice and data.

Index / A percentage which relates numbers to a given base. It is used to demonstrate quickly what is average, above average, or below average in terms of concentrations of people, ratings, sales data etc, etc, within predefined categories. Indices are usually rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.

Industry Associations /

The Advertising Federation of Australia (A.F.A.) represents the interests of advertising agencies and others whose main business is producing advertising for the main media.

The Advertising Standards Council (A.S.C.) addresses complaints concerning the content of advertising in terms of the provisions of the M.C.A. advertising codes. When the council upholds a complaint, the offending advertisement is prevented from further publication or broadcast.

The Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters (F.A.R.B.) is the industry association representing the Australian commercial radio stations.

The Newspaper Advertising Bureau (N.A.B.) is the association established by the Australian newspaper publishers to promote the use of newspapers.

The Radio Marketing Bureau (R.M.B.) is the industry marketing arm for Australian commercial radio stations. It’s role is to market the medium on their behalf to advertisers and agencies. The bureau is not associated with any particular radio station and therefore can offer unbiased advice about radio to potential advertisers and agencies.

The Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (F.A.C.T.S.) is the industry association of the commercial television stations. It is responsible for monitoring the contents of commercials, issuing FACTS numbers and audience classification codes.

The Television Bureau of Advertising (T.V.B.) is the promotional arm of F.A.C.T.S.

The Internet Industry Association (IIA) is responsible for the Internet Industry Code of Practice.

Interoperability / The ability of software and hardware on multiple machines from multiple vendors to communicate meaningfully.

Interstitials / Advertising information, usually a web page, which is downloaded and displayed to users while they wait for other web based material to download

Impacts/Impressions / Total Impacts / Impressions are the total number of advertising exposures estimated to have been received by the target audience within a given media schedule. Impacts / Impressions allow for the fact that individuals are exposed to an advertising message with varying degrees of frequency.

Impacts / Impressions are the same as GRPs but are expressed in terms of numbers (usually thousands) of individuals, or homes, rather than as a percentage, thus:

Impacts=Reach (000s) x Average Frequency

Reach=Impacts / Average Frequency

Average Frequency=Impacts / Reach (000s)

Landing Page / is the page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link, and that is optimized to feature specific keywords or phrases for indexing by search engines. (reference and transactional)

Line Rate / The cost per agate line for newspapers.

Log / Chronological record of a station’s program and commercial exact air times.

Loading / Extra cost ($ or %) that you pay for a premium position such as Outside Back Cover, Inside Front Cover etc.

Makegood / Comparable unit of advertising offered at no charge when the original spot or ad did not run or ran incorrectly.

Nanosecond / A measurement of time. There are 1,000,000,000 nanoseconds in a second.

Network / Two or more stations joined by a line to broadcast the same program from a few original studios simultaneously.

Netlag / A condition that occurs on the Internet in which response time is greatly slowed due to heavy traffic.

Network Affiliate / A television or radio station that designates a portion of its air time for network programs.

Net Cost / Advertising rates which do not include advertising agency commission and/or include discounts.

O & O Station /A station owned and operated by a network.

OTO. / One time only / Usually referring to a TV or radio special program.

OTS / Opportunities To See

Overnights / OzTAM television ratings from the previous night. HUTs and PUTs are released at 9am (for metro markets). Full elemental data is also released at 9am (ie person-by-person, minute-by-minute data). Quarter-hour data for standard demographics is also released at this time

Pass-along Audience / Readers of magazines or newspapers who did not purchase the publication. Also called Secondary Audience.

PBW, P4C / Abbreviations for Page Black & White and Page Four Colour.

Penetration / The degree to which a medium or vehicle has coverage in a specific area. Can also refer to the effectiveness of advertising’s impact on consumers.

PI / Per Inquiry / Agreement between a media owner and an advertiser where the advertiser pays the owner for advertising on the basis of the number of inquiries or completed sales from the advertising.

Penetration / Penetration is used in media to describe the coverage of a particular medium. In marketing terms it relates to the proportion of people who use or buy a product.

People Meter / An electronic device for measuring television viewing. It consists of three components (i) a ‘probe’ installed in every television, VCR and cable decoder box to measure the signal and time of watching (ii) an eight-button unit placed on top of each television to allow viewers to log-on and register their viewing (iii) a microprocessor to store and transmit the raw data.

Portal / Usually used as a marketing term to describe a Website that is or is intended to be the first place people see when using the Web. Typically a “Portal site” has a catalogue of web sites, a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer email and other service to entice people to use that site as their main “point of entry” (hence “portal”) to the Web.

Potential / The total target audience i.e. the maximum number of people in a demographic. Can be sub-classified by (i) demography - age, sex, income etc (ii) psychography - lifestyle, culture, social class, (iii) geography - place of residence etc

Poster Panel / The standard outdoor advertising display unit, usually 25’ x 12’.

PUR / Persons Using Radio / the percent of the area’s population listening to radio at a specific time.

Piggyback / Back-to-back scheduling of two or more brand commercials of one advertiser in network or spot positions

Pre-emption / The substitution of one advertiser’s local TV commercial by another advertiser paying a higher price for the spot, or by a different program of interest.

PrimeTime / FTA: 6:00PM – 12:00PM

Promo / Short commercial announcements on television of upcoming programs.

Pull-Through / Refers to a commercial message or station announcement that appears as a continuous stream of type super-imposed over live action. Pull-throughs usually appear at the bottom of the TV screen.

PVT/PUT / Persons Viewing or Using Television / The percent of individuals viewing all television stations during a specific time period, indicating total viewing to TV in general, not to a specific program or station.

Quintile / The division of the audience or sample into five equal groups ranging from heaviest to lightest amount of exposure to any medium.

Quintile Analysis / Is used to examine frequency of (media or product consumption) activity. Viewers, listeners, readers or consumers of a particular product etc. are ranked according to their usage and then divided into five equal groups, or quintiles, ranging from the heaviest to the lightest in media exposure, or product consumption

Rate Card / A statement by a medium showing advertising costs, issue dates, program names, closing dates, requirements, cancellation dates, etc.

Rating / An estimate of the size of an audience 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.

Regional Markets / lso referred to as ‘Aggregated’ and ‘Sub-Markets’. An aggregated market is served by more than one free-to-air commercial station. Aggregated markets can be further split into component sub-markets, which are defined by broadcasting signals. Regional markets can be bought by each aggregated market as a whole, or by individual sub-markets. We are able to run different commercials in each sub-market even if we buy the airtime at an aggregated market level. There are 5 aggregated markets - Qld, Nthn NSW, Sthn NSW, Vic and Tas. These are further broken down into 20 sub-markets.

Roadblocking / A scheduling technique where a brand’s commercial airs at approximately the same time on all three networks or on all stations in a given market.

ROS. / Run Of Schedule or Run Of Station / A broadcast schedule, similar to R.O.P. where specific programs and air times have not been requested by the advertiser.

Roll Out / An advertising technique where advertising is expanded to cover more and more markets as distribution/ product sales are also expanded.

Roy Morgan Values / Ten ‘values’ segments developed by Roy Morgan Research in conjunction with Colin Benjamin of the Horizon Network. They help to identify groups of people who share similar values and attitudes to life etc. young optimism, socially aware etc

Share / The percent of an audience tuned to a particular program at a given time.

SOV / Share of Voice / A brand’s percent of the total advertising weight in its product category.

Short Rate / The cost difference between the discounted contract rate and the higher rate actually earned by an advertiser if he fails to fulfill the contracted amount of advertising.

SEO / Search Engine Optimisation / Increasing volume and quality of traffic to your site by targeting key words via natural, organic or algorithmic means.

SEM / Search Engine Marketing / Increasing a websites visibility in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

Simulcast / Broadcast of the same program across multiple channels or platforms

SMO / Social Media Optimisation / Generating Publicity through social media, including adding RSS Feeds, adding “Digg This” features, blogging via wordpress etc.

Spill-In / The amount of programming viewed within a market area to stations that are licensed to an adjacent market.

Spill-Out / The amount of viewing to local stations outside the home market area.

SRDS / Standard Rate & Data Service / Monthly reports of publications’, TV and radio stations’ rate cards and supporting technical information arranged by state and market.

Strip / A program scheduled at the same time each day, typically Monday-Friday.

Syndicated Program / A program bought by a station or advertiser from an independent organisation, not a network.

Tabloid / A newspaper measuring about 5-6 columns wide by 200 lines deep, about 2/3 the size of a standard newspaper.

TAP / Total Audience Plan / A radio schedule consisting of equal distribution of commercials across all major dayparts.

Time Spent Viewing / Is a measure of the time an individual is exposed to a specific medium or media vehicle according to a defined period of time. In the case of television, the measure of time spent viewing is usually over a one week period.

Top and Tail / Relates to television and is when an advertisement is placed at the beginning of the ad break and at the end of the same break

Turnover / The ratio of a cumulative audience to the average audience for a given period of time. Indicates how loyal a given audience may be for specific stations or programs.