--- title: Media and advertising terms defined description: A glossary of the most popular media planning and buying terms across many media types - broadcast, cable, print, out-of-home, digital and more. image: https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hubfs/TV-media.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/media-and-advertising-terms-defined#main) - Our Work - [Agency Partners](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/agency_partners) - [Blog](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog) - - [![2023 GMI_Logo_Wide](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2023%20GMI_Logo_Wide.png?width=467&height=105&name=2023%20GMI_Logo_Wide.png) ![2023 GMI_Logo_Wide](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2023%20GMI_Logo_Wide.png?width=467&height=105&name=2023%20GMI_Logo_Wide.png) ![Good_Media_Ideas_320x132](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Good_Media_Ideas_320x132.png?width=320&height=132&name=Good_Media_Ideas_320x132.png) ![Good Media Ideas](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Good_Media_Ideas_320x132.png?width=320&height=132&name=Good_Media_Ideas_320x132.png)](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Search - [Get Started](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/contact_us) - Our Work - [Agency Partners](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/agency_partners) - [Blog](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog) - - [Get Started](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/contact_us) Search # Media and advertising terms defined by [Scott Christopher](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/author/scott-christopher) Thu, Sep 15, 2016 @ 15:09 PM The world of advertising and media can often be difficult to understand. It seems like there's a new acronym for some new technology, every day - like RTB, BR or CPLV. Luckily, you have your friends at McCulloch+Company to help you navigate these waters and explain what all of these terms mean. This blog post will do just that: define many of the most popular media buying and planning terms and a few of the more obscure ones too.  First, some general media buying terms: - Impressions – the total number of exposures to an advertisement  - Efficiency – the relationship of media cost to audience delivery, usually defined in terms of CPM - CPM - Cost Per Thousand impressions, used across all media types to quantify value - SOV - Share of Voice, the percentage of a brand's advertising presence, as compared to it's competition - KPI - Key Performance Indicator - the goal or goals of your campaign, how you will measure success - CTA - Call-To-Action, the trigger to action within an ad, usually signified in a colored button on the ad Now for terms associated with [broadcast](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/tv), the term used to describe network TV (generally the main 5 over-the-air stations) and terrestrial [radio](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/radio): - Reach - approximate percentage of the audience you are reaching during flight - Frequency - approximate number of times a person sees/hears a message during flight - Flight - Scheduled dates of a media buy - usually used for broadcast (radio and TV) but also for digital - Rating Point - Broadcast (Radio/TV) is purchased in rating point increments. One rating point is equivalent to 1% of the target audience population. - Reach x Frequency = Gross Rating Points - Reach and Frequency are inversely related--Reach is usually associated with [TV](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/benefits-of-traditional-media-broadcast-television) while Frequency is more closely aligned with [Radio](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/benefits-of-traditional-media-radio)  ![TV-media.jpg](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TV-media.jpg?width=320&name=TV-media.jpg) - Cost Per Point (CPP) – Cost for one rating point – applicable for both TV or radio - Demographic - the group of target customers you are trying to reach with your media buy, usually defined by just age &gender but sometimes ethnicity - Designated Market Area (DMA) – geographical region in which TV stations have primary coverage, as defined by Nielsen Television - Radio Metro – geographical region in which radio stations have primary coverage, as defined by Nielsen Audio - [Nielsen](http://www.nielsen.com/us/en.html) - the primary research company that provides measurement of most media types via third party surveys (mostly associated with Radio and TV) - Traffic - term used to signify the sending of a produced commercial to a station  [Print](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/print) - FSI - Free Standing Insert, a print newspaper and direct mail product--usually glossy--that is inserted into the middle of a newspaper or shared mail piece - Cover positions - premium full page positions within a magazine - C2 (inside front cover); C3 (inside back cover); C4 (back cover) - Cover Wrap - a premium half or full page unit that wraps the front of a magazine - either 2 pages (front and back) or 4 pages (both sides of front and back cover). May be referred to as a "false front" as well; it still includes the magazine name across the top. - Polybag - a plastic bag wrapped on the outside of magazine or newspaper. A brand can either advertise a message on this bag or include a product within the bag. - Spread - a two page unit on adjacent pages; can be full page or half page ads - [Bellyband](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/bid/388623/June-Good-Media-Idea-Magazine-bellybands) - seen below a unit that is usually wrapped and affixed to the outside of a magazine. Often used in B2B advertising. [![bellyband-1.jpg](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/bellyband-1.jpg?width=320&name=bellyband-1.jpg)](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/bid/388623/June-Good-Media-Idea-Magazine-bellybands) - Advertorial - the original [native](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/bid/384933/Native-Advertising-Friend-or-Foe) advertising, this is the practice of filling paid ad space with a story promoting the business. This is labeled prominently with "paid advertisement" at the top or bottom of the page. [Outdoor](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/out-of-home) - OOH - acroymn for [Out-Of-Home](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/benefits-of-traditional-media-out-of-home) a term refering to all outdoor advertising including billboards, transit, aerial banners, [sky-writing](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/bid/404365/March-Good-Media-Idea-Skywriting) and many other forms of alternative outdoor media - [TAB ratings](http://www.tabonline.com/what_is_TAB_OOH) - the system of measuring OOH impressions - RHR, LHR - Right Hand Read, Left Hand Read - referring to the position of a unit in relation to the flow of traffic on the road [Cable ](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/cable) - Spot - A commercial for TV usually 30 seconds in duration, but can be 15, 60 seconds, 2 minutes or more in length - Spotload - Number of spots within the cable buy or on a given cable station in the buy - Taggable - A :30 network-produced spot, generally promoting a cable show for the first 20 seconds with a brand "tag" on the final 10 seconds; usually given as added value for a cable buy [Digital](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/digital) - CTR - Click-Through Rate, usually represented as a percentage showing the number of clicks divided by the total impressions served - SEM - Search Engine Marketing, the phrase used to refer to pay-per-click search advertising in which keywords are bid on and text ads displayed. Available with all major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. - SEO - Search Engine Optimization, the phrase used to describe adjustments a brand can make to their website's design and content to rank higher in organic search - CPLV - Cost Per Landing page View - CPCV - Cost Per Completed View, used in online video campaigns - Sessions - A Google Analytics term that quantifies site visits a little more clearly as "a group of interactions that take place on your website within a given time frame. For example a single *session* can contain multiple screen or page views, events, social interactions, and ecommerce transactions." - BR - Bounce rate - another Google Analytics term that represents the percentage of people that leave a landing page without browsing further  - RTB - Real-Time Bidding, the basis of auction-based programmatic buying in which unsold impressions are sold on exchange. You can read more about this complex subject in this blog [post](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/bid/397637/Programmatic-Buying-Is-It-Real-Time-or-Not).  - OTT - Over-The-Top, used to refer to paid subscription video on demand services (SVOD) like [Netflix](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/bid/403301/2015-The-Year-TV-Streaming-will-become-Main-Stream), HBOGo, Sling TV, CBS All Access and the like. Hopefully you will found this glossary helpful. Feel free to bookmark it and use it for a reference as you educate yourself about the [ever-changing](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/speed-of-media) world of media and advertising. If there's a term you don't see on this list and you're wondering about it, leave a comment and we'd be happy to help!  *McCulloch+Company is an advertising media services company that integrates the innovation of digital media with the strengths of traditional paths. Founded in 1994 and located in historic Roswell, Georgia, McCulloch+Company is regarded as one of the Southeast's preeminent media agencies. The agency is skilled at managing B2B and B2C clients in a multitude of industry categories. * **Tags:** [Media Agency,](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/media-agency) [media buying,](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/media-buying) [top southeast media buying agency](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/top-southeast-media-buying-agency) Post by [Scott Christopher](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/author/scott-christopher) Thu, Sep 15, 2016 @ 15:09 PM ### Related Articles ##### [![Benefits of Traditional Media: Print](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202017-05-23%20at%204.00.21%20PM.jpg?width=520&height=294&name=Screen%20Shot%202017-05-23%20at%204.00.21%20PM.jpg) Media Agency • Wed, May 24, 2017 @ 10:05 AM Benefits of Traditional Media: Print 4 min read](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/benefits-of-traditional-media-print) ##### [![February Good Media Idea: Media Mix](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/eggs.jpeg?width=520&height=294&name=eggs.jpeg) digital advertising • Tue, Feb 28, 2017 @ 16:02 PM February Good Media Idea: Media Mix 4 min read](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/february-good-media-idea-media-mix) ##### [![Major Media Keys](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/hs-fs/hubfs/giphy%20(1).gif?width=520&height=294&name=giphy%20(1).gif) Media Agency • Wed, Jan 4, 2017 @ 08:01 AM Major Media Keys 2 min read](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/major-media-keys) ## Comments ### Get More Good Media Ideas Sign up to receive notifications when a new blog is posted from Good Media Ideas. ([Privacy Policy)](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/privacy_policy) ###### Categories - [good media ideas](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/good-media-ideas) - [media planning](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/media-planning) - [media buying](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/media-buying) - [Media Agency](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/media-agency) - [good media idea](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/topic/good-media-idea) ###### Recent Posts - [Is Product Knowledge more important than Media Expertise?](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/is-media-expertise-more-important-than-product-knowledge) - [Be Better at B2B, Part 2](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/be-better-at-b2b-part-2) - [Be Better at B2B](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/be-better-at-b2b) - [ChatGPT - Our New Replacement?](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/chatgpt-our-replacement) - [Recruitment Campaigns Start with Good Media Ideas](https://www.goodmediaideas.com/blog/recruitment-campaigns-goodmediaideas)