Marketplace ranges, not a rate card — every space is priced by its owner.
| What you're buying | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Linear TV spot | Set by the ownerper spot | Channel, daypart, programme context, territory and trading demographic are the main price drivers. |
| Audience-led TV schedule | Set by the ownerper TVR / GRP | The buyer is paying for audience delivery, so the demographic and measurement window must be explicit. |
| Addressable or regional TV | Set by the ownerper 1,000 impacts | Regional opt-out and addressable targeting can narrow the buy, but reach and frequency may change with it. |
| Programme sponsorship | Set by the ownerper sponsorship term | The value sits in the programme association, credits, integrations, exclusivity and the number of episodes covered. |
| Connected TV campaign | Set by the ownerper 1,000 impressions | Compare completion, skippability, household frequency and the measurement provider alongside the CPM. |
Ranges are what buyers typically pay across the marketplace, not a rate card. Every space is priced by the company that owns it, and the price on a listing is what a buyer pays.
What buyers check before they book this format.
Where buyers of tv put the rest of the budget.
Use the currency that matches the inventory. A direct linear buy is often easiest to understand per spot, but planners compare it by TVR, GRP, reach and frequency. CTV is more commonly compared by impressions and completion, with the target audience and frequency cap alongside the number.
Linear TV places a spot in a scheduled broadcast or cable programme. CTV delivers video through an internet-connected television or streaming device, usually with more audience targeting and impression-based reporting. They can use the same creative, but they do not share the same buying or measurement assumptions.
A TVR is a rating point against the selected audience, while GRPs are the total rating points delivered by a schedule. They help a buyer compare audience delivery, but they do not by themselves tell you how many different people were reached or how often each person saw the ad.
For a linear spot, usually yes: the clock number or asset ID is the broadcaster's reference for the cleared master. It lets the sales house traffic the correct version and lets the final transmission certificate point back to the file that was approved.
TV advertising is paid video inside a programme environment: a linear spot in a scheduled break, a branded partnership around a show, or a targeted impression on a connected-TV service. The screen is the same, but the buying logic is not — one is planned against ratings and impacts, the other against impressions, completion and audience segments.
A useful TV listing therefore names the channel or platform, the territory, the audience currency, the programme context and the proof that will arrive after transmission. The production master and the clearance path matter just as much as the media price: an ad that is technically late or not cleared cannot use the slot it bought.
Linear TV is scheduled inventory. A buyer chooses a channel or sales house, a daypart, a programme genre or named programme, a trading demographic and a number of spots. The schedule is evaluated through reach, frequency, TVR or GRP and impacts; a cheap spot that delivers the wrong audience is not cheap media.
Connected TV and streaming are audience-led. The same creative can be inserted into live streams, catch-up, AVOD or FAST services, often with geography, age, interest or household targeting. The comparable fields are impressions, completion rate, household reach and frequency cap, but the measurement provider and counting window must be named because platforms do not all count an impression the same way.
Check the platform or measurement provider, the definition of an impression, the live or playback window, completion, co-viewing treatment and frequency cap. A platform-reported count and a third-party verified count should be labelled separately rather than merged into one headline number.
The listing's make-good policy applies. It should say whether the seller adds a spot, rebooks the missed transmission, issues a credit or refunds the undelivered part. Confirm the policy before booking; a vague promise to make it up later is hard to audit.
For linear TV, price follows scarcity and audience quality: peak dayparts, live sport, tentpole entertainment, premium adjacency, a high-value trading demographic and a regional opt-out all move the rate. Ask for the schedule shape, not only the number of spots — ten spots in one peak programme are a different product from ten spots spread across a week.
For CTV, price follows the audience and the delivery promise. A direct-sold or programmatic package may be priced per thousand impressions, while a platform may quote a fixed campaign amount. Non-skippable inventory, a tight frequency cap, verified delivery and a higher completion rate are valuable only when the seller states how they are measured and what happens when the campaign under-delivers.
A linear spot normally needs a broadcast master, a clock number or asset ID, and enough lead time for the broadcaster or sales house to clear the copy. The exact file wrapper, codec, audio layout, subtitles and delivery deadline vary by market, so the listing publishes them instead of implying that one MP4 works everywhere.
Clearance is a real gate rather than paperwork after the booking. Claims, regulated categories, comparative language, flashing imagery, supers and age-sensitive content may trigger review. Subtitles and accessible versions should be declared before the campaign starts, especially when the same master is adapted for catch-up or CTV placements.
Linear campaigns should finish with a transmission certificate or log showing each spot, its date and its time. If a spot misses the booked break, the make-good policy should already say whether the remedy is another spot, a rebook, a credit or a refund. For CTV, the equivalent is a platform or server-side delivery report with impressions, completion and the counting window.
Audience figures are estimates even when the measurement is audited, and CTV adds co-viewing, device and server-side insertion questions. The listing therefore keeps the audience source beside the number. Buyers can compare an independently verified schedule with a platform-reported one without pretending they are identical.