Media Buying FAQ

Our key objective is to place commercials in programs that do a good job of reaching the intended audience as efficiently and effectively as possible. (eg buying 1000 spots that air midnight-6AM adds up to a bunch of spots, but not much audience).

Q: For the paid media portion of airing trailers or commercials supporting the film, what is your methodology for providing costs and metrics so we can determine the efficiency of buy against our intended audience?

A: The majority of our buy will be explicitly targeted media. The only exception would be specific recommended media only available as a rotator.

Q: Do you plan to negotiate and purchase paid commercial time slots against a defined target audience, and provide all key audience delivery metrics using Nielsen (TV and Cable) and Arbitron (Radio) ratings services? These metrics – including audience reach, frequency, target rating points, number of spots, number of gross impressions and cost per rating point – help define with clarity what the client gets for the money they invest and help everyone from an analysis perspective.

A: Yes, absolutely. We’ll be able to pull reports as needed, and will also provide condensed overview analysis as requested.

Q: How do you handle media billing, post-buy analysis and reconciliation of station invoices against confirmed media buy and is this done in-house or via third party?

A: TVA manages every campaign personally, negotiating in partnership with our extensive network of first-hand relationships with media outlets, wholesalers, and buyers. Invoices are reconciled on an on-going basis, prelogs are provided, and pdf versions of all station affidavits will be collected and presented at the end of the campaign.

Q: After placing the approved buy, are you planning on matching actual spot airings for every station/network against the purchased schedule. Do you produce a Match Report after the buy showing how all spots ran versus what was contracted? For those spots that ran outside the time slots for which was contracted, do you demand and receive either make-goods in similar programming if the schedule is still running or as credits against schedule contract?

A: We will provide a match report. At the time that media is purchased, make-good terms are negotiated to ensure delivery in similar programming and appropriate time parts. When an acceptable make-good is not possible, we will ensure that credit is returned promptly. Spots will be encoded, and delivery will be monitored daily.

Q: In buying commercial time on cable networks for airing of commercials or trailers, what is your methodology for securing spot times? Is it Run of Station (ROS) across all dayparts or are you planning on running via specific times, dayparts and programs that most efficiently reach intended target audience? Both? Also, is cable network time secured at the network level or on a DMA-by-DMA local level?

A: ROS is rarely effective and is not generally deployed in an effective targeted media campaign. As stated above, the only exception would be specific recommended media available only on rotator – such as the Kids’ Clusters on DISH and DirecTV. Cable network time will be national/network level, except where a specific DMA is targeted.

When buying DMAs, at a certain point it becomes more cost-effective to buy nationally. If one is targeting 2-3 smaller DMAs, it would be more cost-effective to buy locally, but if we’re looking at several top-20 markets, it will assuredly be more cost-effective to buy nationally, airing ads with wording such as ‘Now Playing in Selected Cities’.

Q: Will TVA deal with key cable systems in each market directly, negotiating costs and spot placement in designated programs and dayparts?

A: We usually work through clearing houses who deal with 100% of national local cable but we also have strong relationships with each regional rep.

Q: Are you planning on negotiating specific programs and dayparts that ratings services show to be optimally suited for our intended audience so as to make every ad dollar work the hardest possible against delivering our message to the right audience?

A: Absolutely!

Q: Does TVA’s media buying approach include the purchase of commercials on local television stations in designated DMAs – including local network affiliates and independents?

A: We have strong personal relationships with many local stations and our encoded spots will be track-able in 210 regional markets.

Q: Does TVA strategize and plan an approach to TV/cable that optimized spot placement in both TV and cable programming to reach intended audience? Do you plan to implement both the cable and terrestrial TV sides of this plan on a market-by-market basis, dealing with cable system operators, local market TV network affiliates and independent TV stations to achieve optimal campaign metrics?

A: Again, we will often deal with national reps, but buys are also negotiated on a station by station basis when required. We will always get the best negotiated rates possible, to make sure that collectively, we are providing our clients with the most efficient and effective media plans.

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