Getting to air

How to ensure your commercial goes to air

Once you have secured your booking with the ids sales team, you need to make sure that all the following steps are taken to ensue that the commercial(s) is transmitted correctly, and on time.

The traffic dept for ids would need to have the following information in order to enter the correct copy details into their system. This is then forwarded to presentation, and finally transmission. (The Traffic dept, and the library where all commercials should be sent are essentially different companies, in different buildings).

Copy details should include the following information;

  1. Title of commercial (this should be the same as the booking made with the ids Sales dept)
  2. Clock number (the industry standard is 15 characters, (example format, XXX/XXXX123/030. The copy length should always be the last 3 characters)
  3. If there is more than one clock number, rotation instructions, i.e. even rotation, 2:1 in favour of, channel specific, time bands (09:00 to 17:30) etc
  4. The channel(s) that the commercial is to run on
  5. Dates of when each clock number should be running, from and to.
  6. Date of when the commercial will be delivered to the relevant library
  7. How the commercial will be arriving i.e. via a playout, or a dub via a courier
  8. A contact name and number

Before we allow any commercial to be transmitted on any of our channels, each and every clock number (even if there is only a very slight variation) must be cleared by the BACC. Due to the BACC clearance process, commercials need to be sent to the BACC at least two working days before the first spot is to be aired.

Please note that the exact clock number supplied in the copy instructions sent to ids traffic department, must be exactly the same as the clock sent to the library’s, and precisely the same as the commercial sent to the BACC for clearance. For Example, FHG/HTRG054/030 and FHGHTRG054030 are not the same, and so may cause problems when for example checking clearance of a commercial! Each individual clock number is unique to that commercial only. Any variations to a commercial, however minor, will require a new clock number.