SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMERCIALS AIRING IN SUMMER OLYMPICS PROGRAMMING

It seems like just yesterday we were all working long hours to make sure our clients’ commercials were properly trafficked into the Vancouver Winter Olympics broadcasts.

And now here we go again, as the Summer Olympic Games are rapidly approaching. The Summer Games from London England will take place July 27 – August 12 of this year.

All television commercials airing in any pre-Olympic programming and during broadcasts of the Olympic Games will require an approval number from the Olympic Consortium, whether they contain any Olympic content or not.
The Consortium will screen every commercial to make sure there is no imagery that conflicts with the exclusivity agreements negotiated with Olympic sponsors.

To add to the approval process, if the client is an International Ring Rights Holder and intends to use the Olympic Rings Imagery, commercials will also need Athena approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
If the client is a Domestic Ring Rights holder and intends to use the official imagery, approval from the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) will be required.

These special Olympic approvals will be needed in addition to the standard Telecaster regulatory numbers, so submissions will require a much longer turn-around time.

We need to allow 3-5 business days for Consortium approvals and 10-20 days for COC and IOC approvals.

This process may take even longer as we get closer to the July 27 start of the Games, as the volume of commercials being submitted increases.

It is strongly recommended that scripts and storyboards are submitted as soon as possible so any potential issues or infractions can be red-flagged and corrected. It's easier and less expensive to fix problems before commercials are completed.
However, final approval numbers will not be issued until the Consortium and the COC/IOC have reviewed the finished spots.

Even though we have months to go before the Games begin, it's never too early to talk to your traffic coordinator and get a head start on this complex approvals process.

PERCEPTION OF TRAFFIC

STANDARD DEF AND HIGH DEF COMMERCIALS

As more and more consumers switch from SD to HD televisions, the demand for commercials to be delivered in Hi-Def also increases.

Even though most of our commercials are now available in HD, we still need to look after the SD market because some stations still only air commercials in SD format.

We add this note to our TV traffic instructions:

“SPOTS ALSO AVAILABLE IN HD FORMAT. STATIONS AIRING IN HD SHOULD RUN THE HD VERSION. IF YOUR HUB ACCEPTS BOTH HD AND SD, MAKE SURE TO LETTERBOX WHEN DOWNCONVERTING (4X3 SAFE).”

What does that mean? What is 4 x 3 SAFE?

Here’s a basic, jargon-free explanation:

Most television sets are adjusted to show less than the full picture. The accepted convention is that the graphic image (picture) should be kept to the center 90% of the of the image area (known as the “safe” area) and any text should be kept to the center 80% of the image area (known as the “title safe” area) to ensure that none of the image is cut-off to the viewer.

High Definition TV screens show a wider picture- it looks more like a rectangle than a square, and the picture fills up the whole screen. If you show a HD formatted picture on a SD screen, the sides of the picture will be cut off because the rectangle-shaped image is being fit into a square format.

So…. If you show a HD spot on a SD transmission, you will lose even more of the safe area of the image. To fix this problem, the commercials are “letterboxed” by adding black bars above and below, or on all sides of the image (called "pillarboxed"), therefore preserving the entire picture as it appears on the TV screen and making it fit into the “safe” area.  

Same goes for viewing an SD spot on a HD television. Because the SD image is square not rectangle, black bars will appear at the sides of the image in order to fill up the HD screen.
Here's a visual example, courtesy of our friends at CTV-

I'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY...

Days in our beloved traffic department can get pretty dramatic, but never this intense. Plus, we're super law-abiding!

“Traffic” (2000) directed by Steven Soderbergh, won multiple Oscars for Best Director (Soderbergh), Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro), Best Adapted Screenplay (Stephen Gaghan) and Best Film Editing (Stephen Mirrione).

Did you know…?

The film has 135 speaking parts and was shot in over 110 locations in eight different cities.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas were engaged before filming began; they married soon after. They do not appear in any scenes together.

In the original big screen release, Caroline (Erika Christensen) states that she attends Cincinnati Country Day. Stephen Gaghan, (screenplay), attended a private school in Louisville, KY called Kentucky Country Day and was expelled the week before his graduation for driving a go-cart down the halls of the school.

After filming one day, actor James Brolin returned to his car to find two youths attempting to break in. Still in his general's uniform, he frightened away the would-be thieves, who mistook him for a real military officer.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181865/

CHANGES & REVISIONS: THE 48 HOUR RULE

It’s not ideal, but sometimes we have to change the TV creative after a broadcast flight has already begun.

There are many reasons for creative changes.
Maybe the widgets we are advertising are offered at a new, lower price.
Or perhaps our advertising has been so successful, that stores have run out of widgets altogether.
It could be that the creative includes a claim about how fantastic the widgets are, and a competitor has challenged the veracity of that claim.
Or maybe our client is not entirely happy about some aspect of the commercial and has requested we make a revision to the picture, the sound, or the dialogue.

No matter what the reason is, we can't expect stations to immediately stop airing a spot mid-flight. They need time to change their broadcast logs and go through all of the steps mentioned in my previous posting.

Hence, the 48 hour rule.
Any changes to a current flight will take 2 business days to implement. So if a creative change has to be made, a guaranteed turnaround time can’t be confirmed with the client until it’s been confirmed with your traffic coordinator first.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE STATION END - GETTING MATERIAL & INSTRUCTIONS THERE ON TIME.

We all work really hard here at the agency to gather the information needed to traffic a campaign. (We are usually working hard...last Friday afternoon seems to have been a rather unusual case of some "down time"..hahaha). In fact we are so focused on getting our end of the job done that often we forget that there is still another hugely important part of the process.

Nothing can air until our colleagues at the TV stations work their magic!

There are several vital things to be done once our material, media schedules and instructions arrive at the TV station or broadcast hub.
The media schedules have to be matched up with the station contracts and checked for accuracy.
Creative information has to be added to the daily on-air logs, using our commercial ID numbers and the regulatory approval numbers.
The commercial itself, which has been sent digitally, has to be quality checked for picture and sound levels and digitized into the station server.

With the proper amount of lead time, our station traffic friends take care to make sure our commercials get the best possible placement, do not air in breaks too close together and are not adjacent to any competitive brands. However, if material and instructions arrive late, we run the risk of not being in the best log positions, or even worse, having our spot placements pushed until later in the broadcast week.

We do everything we can to give stations as much lead time as possible. They prefer a lead time of 5 business days (Monday before the next Monday airdate), but realistically we aim to have all material and instructions to stations by end of day on the Wednesday before the next Monday airdate.

It's all about communication. If we know that the creative will be late, or that our media department is shifting or still buying for the upcoming broadcast week, we need to let the stations know so they can do their best to accommodate us.  If you find out about a potential delay, let your traffic coordinator know about it as soon as you can!

THINGS TO DO ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHEN YOUR BOSS IS AWAY...

Fridays in general are good days to take things a bit slower and with a more relaxed attitude. It’s only fair to get your mind and body primed and ready for the weekend.

In traffic, this is not often possible because Fridays can be full of last minute scrambling to make sure everyone has everything they need for the new broadcast week to come. If you’re lucky and you do have a calm Friday stretching out before you AND your boss happens to be off for the afternoon, there are plenty of things you can do to keep busy as the t-minus-5pm countdown begins.  Say, has anyone seen Trish Shorter? Hmmm, I think she might be out at a meeting this afternoon!

For starters, you could pop over to the pub down the street and grab a burger and a pint for lunch. There really are no downfalls to this idea.  You get a big juicy burger to fill you up for the long afternoon ahead, and a nice cold pint to wash it down with.  The pub atmosphere, along with a lunch menu that doesn’t consist of water and a salad, will put you in a great mood for when you get back to the office.

Take the time to set up an alternate personality on Facebook, to supply your actual self with Farmville/Cityville/Castleville goodies. This new person can enjoy the hobbies you wish you did or have an appearance that you do not, so take this opportunity to be creative. Creativity is a proven job skill, so do not skimp!

Is there a Dairy Queen nearby? You have heard of The Blizzard, right? Why are you still sitting there reading this when there are 26 different flavours to choose from? Ice cream=calcium=bone strength, which means you can sit comfortably at your desk for hours without risking painful spontaneous fractures.

Red Hot Chili Peppers just added a Toronto show (Apr.27) to their North American tour but tickets don’t officially go on sale until Jan.27. You should find a way to get amazing pre-sale seats. If you get them and don’t want them, please email RHCP4.27.12@gmail.com. This is not a joke, research is vital…prove you have the chops!

Of course, you could get your desk more organized. Think of what a time saver this could be for down the road! Why, just this moment, I found a small box of raisins, half a bagel, some possible grapes and some blue cheese under my desk. This will be so helpful the next time I’m working late and don’t have time to run down to fetch dinner.    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9lBjGHnMyk

WHERE WE FIT IN THE BIG PICTURE

HOW WE ORGANIZE OUR WEEK

Most radio and television flights are based on a broadcast week that starts on Monday and ends on Sunday.
We try to get all material and instructions to our radio and TV station friends as early as possible, but usually we have a Wednesday deadline to deliver all material needed for a flight that starts on the following Monday.
With this in mind, here is how a typical traffic week plays out:

Monday
-review all previous week's instructions, and make sure any new talent cycles are declared and paid. 
-figure out what new campaigns are coming up for the next broadcast week.
-alert media buyers and account service teams as to what instructions we will be needing for the upcoming flights.

Tuesday
-check status of any commercials currently in production.
-submit new material for regulatory approvals.
-prepare instructions for upcoming broadcast week.

Wednesday
-send material & instructions to station traffic departments.

Thursday/Friday
-work with stations to make sure they have everything they need for the upcoming broadcast week.
-estimate talent costs for upcoming cycles.

It's never quite as simple or as organized as this (throw in lots of emails for additional information and scrambling to accommodate unexpected complications) but it's a brief outline of our work week.

The longest traffic jam in the world was recorded in China . Its length was 260 kilometers

"WHAT THE HECK IS A BROADCAST TRAFFIC/TALENT DEPARTMENT?!"

"What is it that you do for a living?" 
"What exactly does a traffic department do?"

We get these kinds of questions all the time...

A full service Ad Agency employs people who are experts in their fields:
There are people that figure out what kind of media will best be suited to sell your widgets. They are the planners.
There are people that are experts at purchasing the planned media to make best use of the client's budget. They are the media buyers.
We have creative teams that come up with the ideas that make you want to buy the widgets.
We have producers who execute the creative team's ideas.
We have account service teams that guide our clients through this whole process and drive their business.

Once they’re all done and the commercial is finished, the buy is in place and the airtime has been purchased, we take over.
We submit the finished commercials to the appropriate regulatory approval boards. We arrange for the commercials to be sent to the radio and tv stations for broadcast. We send instructions to these broadcasters - complete with details on the flight dates of the media buy, and any other information that the broadcasters need to know about the campaign. We are there in case the broadcasters have any questions. And we also make sure the performers in the commercials are paid, depending on how and where the commercial is airing. 

Our job can be stressful because if we don’t have correct information, or if we make an error, flight dates may be missed and airtime may be lost. We often have many campaigns to traffic at once for a variety of clients and therefore we have to be good at keeping many balls in the air. We are expert multitaskers!

PAJAMA DAY - DECEMBER 22, 2011

Coming to work in your Pajamas is a wonderful thing. We are thinking of hosting a floor-wide pajama day next month. Employees will pay a small fee for the opportunity to come to work in PJ's with all proceeds going to FREE THE CHILDREN, a wonderful charity our organization supports.

MORE ABOUT APPROVALS- THE EXTRA NUMBER YOU MIGHT NEED

In addidion to CBC and TELECASTER approval for tv commercials, you sometimes need additional approval numbers. If the product you are advertising ‘goes in you or on you’ then you need to submit your script for ASC (Ad Standards) approval. ASC reviews scripts for cosmetic, consumer drugs, natural health products, food/beverages and alcoholic beverages. ASC clearace is mandatory in these categories, and ASC approval must be obtained before your commercial is submitted for CBC/TELECASTER numbers. There is a cost for submission, which varies by category. As well, all advertising directed at children must recevie ASC KIDS approval and this category has very strict and defined rules/regulations.

For more info on ASC: http://www.adstandards.com/en/Clearance/index.aspx

REGULATORY APPROVALS FOR TV

Let’s start off with a bit of information on regulatory approvals. For televison spots, there are 2 main approvals needed: TVB (Telecaster) and CBC AD STANDARDS (for CBC affiliated stations). Commercials are approved from the as-recorded script and copy of the finished spot. There is no cost to submit. Approvals can usually be turned around in one business day, but if there is a backup of spots submitted, it can take as long as three business days. Although we need finished spots/scripts for final approval, it’s best you send scripts to your traffic co-ordinator as soon as they are available, preferably at the pre-production stage, so we can red-flag any regulatory issues. It’s much easier (and cheaper) to make any “fixes” at script stage than it is after the commercial has been finished!
For more info on TVB: http://www.tvb.ca/pages/TCEIntro.htm/

For more info on CBC AD STANDARDS: http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/docs/policies/ads/

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG!

Hello out there-
We are the Broadcast Traffic Department for one of Canada’s largest Advertising Agencies, servicing clients in a number of categories, including cars, fast food, alcohol, movies, and consumer packaged goods, just to mention a few. We review scripts and submit for regulatory approvals. We send scheduling instructions to radio and tv stations across the country. We are also responsible for estimating costs and paying performers that appear in our commercials. All in a day’s work.