TV advertising
TV advertising is not sold by the spot but by gross rating points (GRPs) against a target audience. One GRP is a contact with one per cent of that audience. The client is buying a volume of contacts, not specific airtimes — and what a contact costs depends on the audience, spot length, season, prime-time share and break-position requirements.
What we deliver
- Choice of buying audience and channels based on viewer profiles
- A plan of GRPs, reach and frequency by campaign week
- Negotiation of cost per point (CPP), prime-time share and position surcharges
- Checks on the spot’s technical specs and delivery to broadcasters
- Campaign tracking in audience data and a final evaluation
What sets the price of a rating point
The base is the cost per point (CPP) for a given audience with a given TV group. It is then adjusted by length coefficients: rate cards are usually based on a 30-second spot, and shorter spots cost less but not proportionally — 15 seconds is dearer per second than 30. Then come seasonal indices and surcharges for a requested position, typically first or last in the commercial break.
The practical conclusion: a shorter cut-down is often the cheapest route to frequency, while the full length establishes the message. So plans frequently use two lengths, and production needs to know that up front.
Channels, groups and sales houses
The Czech TV market consists of three main groups — Czech Television, Nova and Prima — plus thematic channels sold through sales houses. Czech Television is limited by law: since 2012, ČT1 carries no commercial advertising, only sponsorship, while ČT2 and ČT sport may carry advertising within limits.
National channels deliver reach fast; thematic channels offer a sharper viewer profile at a lower cost per contact. The plan combines them depending on whether the campaign mainly needs to build reach or frequency within a narrow audience.
The spot must pass technical and content checks
Broadcasters accept spots in a prescribed format, with loudness normalised to EBU R 128 and delivered several working days before airing. They review content against advertising regulation — particularly strict rules apply to medicines, food supplements, alcohol and advertising aimed at children. A food supplement, for instance, must be explicitly labelled as one.
So we check the spot before production is finished. Our sister company OMNIA PRODUCTION shoots spots and knows broadcaster specs, but we check a spot from any other studio the same way.
Frequently asked
- How much does TV advertising cost?
- TV has no single price per spot. You pay for rating points in a target audience, and the price per point varies by channel, spot length, season and placement requirements. So it makes sense to start from the goal and the budget, not the rate card. Send the inquiry form for a concrete plan with estimated delivery.
- How long should a TV spot be?
- Most often 20 or 30 seconds to establish the message and 10 or 15 seconds for a reminder flight. A shorter spot costs less in absolute terms but more per second, because length coefficients are not linear. Lengths are best decided before the shoot so the shorter cuts can be edited from the same footage.
- Who produces the spot?
- Our sister company OMNIA PRODUCTION handles the shoot; OMNIA PR handles the media buy. A spot from another studio is fine too — before it goes to broadcasters we check its technical specs and compliance with advertising rules.
Related services
Programme sponsorship
Linking a brand to a specific programme through sponsorship messages — including ČT1, where no other advertising is possible.
Read more →07Online video and smart TV
Advertising in TV groups’ streaming services and on smart TVs — extending a TV campaign to viewers who skip linear broadcast.
Read more →03Campaign evaluation
Comparing what was bought with what actually aired, printed and went up — and claiming compensation where delivery fell short.
Read more →