With General Background
Since the first Infomercial aired for Waring Blenders in 1949, air time has been sold to advertisers as "short form" infomercials; (30 to 120 second ads), or "long form" program length infomercials; (28.30 minute ads), and almost always devoted solely to selling a single product. TMI specializes in short form infomercials and standard, 60 second product ads.
The term {Short form} is a form of commercial advertising generally known to the industry as part of "DRTV" or direct response TV. Short form, DRTV commercials can range from 30 to 90-seconds in length. They almost always offer a toll free number to call. Some are "in your face" with a spinning clock and a breathless announcer claiming your time to buy the world's best widget is about to run out. If TMI produces your ads, they will not contain such annoyances.
TMI has a proven track record of buying air time far below the published rates offered on the standard rate cards of most stations. By using TMI's careful buying strategy, short form infomercials air time can be bought from TV stations for less than one-fifth the cost of 30-60 second standard commercial air time.
This is the definition of a RATE CARD: A printed listing of advertising rates for a single media vehicle. Sales managers use the rate card to determine what rates to charge for programs during certain weeks. Account executives are expected to sell based on the rates determined by the rate card.
The Media Intersection is the perfect advertising solution for a small business. TMI TV ads tend to be very inexpensive, even less expensive than most email lists and local newspaper advertising!
Just like any other kind of marketing, television's response rates can vary. But there are so many people watching TV that it doesn't take a very high response rate to increase your profits.
The Media Intersection suggests we buy your air time as R.O.S., or during off-peak times. Late at night and weekends are best. Even though these times aren't big "ratings-getters", the total numbers of people watching can still be impressive.
Here is the definition of ROS: - Spots run across multiple dayparts within a broad daypart parameter An acronym for "Run of Station" or "Run of Schedule". It frequently is used interchangeably with BTA (Best Times Available) and is defined by the FCC as the time range encompassing all periods from sign-on until sign-off. Stations may design their own versions of R-O-S such as "Daytime R-O-S" (6-AM to 7-M) or may limit the definition of R-O-S to mean 6-AM till 12-Midnight. For our purposes, R-O-S means spread out over most or all of the Stations Dayparts.
The Media Intersection is also unique in the industry because the cost of our video production is modest, ranging from $1,500.00 to $2,500.00 for a 60 second ad, depending upon your requirements. The Media Intersection keeps your advertising message simple while creating your message in a handsome, but modest studio where computers and the owners son do most of the work.
Getting commercials produced has alway been a very expensive and time consuming process. A high quality TV spot using known talent can easily cost thousands to produce. The Media Intersection dramatically reduces this cost. TMI considers your production cost apart from your advertising package. Some clients may want to have their ads produced locally and use TMI for ad buying only. TMI client should consider cost and quality when making this decision. Look at our TV ads. If they meet your standards, we can produce one for you. Of course, all our spots meet or exceed current broadcast quality standards.
TMI has the ability to target specific groups of viewers by matching the product being marketed to the type of audience a station attracts. This is another of The Media Intersection's most important advantages. We help you pick stations to match your product or service with the best audience.
THE JARGON OF THE TRADE
We couldn't depart this page without helping you understand more of the jargon that media buyers use to impress their clients. Just like the language of doctors, pilots, and computer wizards, media buyers also have a 'language" dripping with acronyms, cryptic phrases, and intrigue.
Let's get started with the biggest trick in TV advertising. If you are new to TV advertising, you can fall into the trap of
PREEMPTION. Preemption refers to the displacement of a scheduled commercial announcement by the station or network in favor of a higher-priced commercial or for some other reason. Preemptible refers to a class of commercial announcements that are usually purchased at a lower rate with the understanding that the placement may be changed by the station if other commercials are subsequently sold at higher prices.
You should also understand reach and frequency.
REACH & FREQUENCY: The number or percentage of a population group exposed to a media schedule at least once (reach), and the average number of times each of those people has been exposed (frequency). Reach is the number or percent of different homes or persons exposed at least once to an advertising schedule over a specific period of time. Reach excludes duplication. The formula is Reach x Frequency = GRPs. With TMI, you will get more reach than frequency. We spread out your ads to get your reach. If you want more frequency, you must buy more time.
With TMI, you get
AFFIDAVITS from each station proving your media schedule after it runs. It is generally based on physical evidence, such as the broadcast station affidavit of performance proving that all you sports aired. 
You may want TMI to help you buy
PIGGY-BACK: - A piggy-back is two commercials scheduled to run back-to-back, purchased by the same advertiser. Examples include two individual commercials for two related products from the same client, or one 60-second commercial where the first 30 seconds carries a message from a national advertiser and the second 30 seconds is provided to a local affiliate. Availability is determined by individual station policy.
You may present TMI with a spot we need to
TAG: - A local live or recorded addition to another pre-recorded announcement. An example would an announcer reading a live tag after a 25-second hardware spot saying: "There are 27 ACE Hardware Stores in the Greater Delaware Valley. ACE is the place for the helpful hardware man." Frequently the Traffic Director will be called upon to run the same announcement several times during the advertiser's campaign, but rotate several different tags to the main commercial announcement. For example a Sidewalk Sale at a Mall, 'tagged' with a rotating list of participating mall merchants each time the event is promoted. This type of rotating several different participating stores or dealers is known as 'ROTATING TAGS' and is very common in the local radio marketplace.
See Glossary from Traffic Directors Guild for full list of terms and definitions.
Regardless of the amount of money you have to spend on advertising, The Media Intersection can give your business the real power of television.
