Task 8 - Sources Of Information In Advertising - AS1

Where You Can Find Information on Television Ratings and Why This Information Is Useful

You can find information on television ratings from reliable sources such as BARB. BARB stands for 'Broadcasters' audience research board' and around 11,500 individuals have BARB within their homes and this records what programmes they watch and who is in the room watching. The data is collected overnight and ratings are published at 9:30 AM the following morning for use by TV stations and advertising industries. This information is useful because it allows the industry to focus on the not so popular shows to boost publicity and hopefully boost their ratings. The reason some people may not be watching some shows is because they might not know that they're showing so knowing the ratings can help with this problem. Also it shows key strengths within the industry and it gives shows objectives, I.E getting a certain rating morning and if it drops, to change their regime.

What A Programme Profiles Is and Why An Advertising Company Might Find One Useful

Programme profiles is a breakdown of who watches the programme. This is useful to an advertiser because it allows them to target adverts to specific programmes. For example, the majority of people that would watch Downtown Abbey are women 50+ therefore the adverts shows during the breaks would be ones that are aimed to that audience. Another example would be if the a football match was on. The majority of people that watch the football are men therefore, the adverts that would show in the break would be things such as: Gillette, Razors, Nivea Men etc.

What A Rate Card Is and Why It Is Useful For An Advertising Company (ITV Media)

A rate card is how much it costs to put an advert on. Rates depend on hours, for example 'Coronation Street' is much more expensive than other programmes that are shown at a earlier, unsocial hour. This is useful for an advertising company because it creates competition in the sense that not all advertising companies can afford to pay the rates for their advertisement which allows other companies to then swoop in and take the slot.

What Information Can Be Found In An Online Advertisers' Information Packs (Channel4sales&ITV)

Both of these popular TV stations show the advertising industry what is new to their channel which gives advertisers the choice and the understanding of what audiences would be watching which they can then compare to what they want their target audiences are. They also include sponsorship and why they should choose their channel. Sponsorships are useful to advisors because it brings in money for the advertisers; they get money for trying to make money, basically. They also get publicity which makes whatever they're advertising more popular.