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ad agency
a company providing one or more of the following infomercial services for fees or commissions: product assessment, marketing strategy, creative, production, media planning/buying/analysis and back end management. ad allowable: a dollar amount determined to be the maximum media cost per order allowed in order to make a minimum profit per piece sold. Approximately the gross profit/piece less all direct selling costs, except media time.
ADI
(see "Area of Dominant influence")
adjacency
commercial spot time purchased adjacent to or within a specific program that targets the advertiser's ideal demographic. For example, if Richard Simmons appeared as a guest on the "Late Night with David Letterman" program, his media buying agency might purchase an "adjacency" for "Deal A Meal" immediately before, after or during the show.
ADO
acronym for Ampex's digital video effects (DVE) system.
affidavit
the document TV station and cable network sales departments create and send their agency clients confirming the commercial run times and specific prices paid.
affiliate
any broadcast TV station that is financially compensated for local telecasting of national programs for a network (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Paramount, Warner).
airing
the broadcast of an infomercial in a specific time slot.
airtime
the media time periods a network or broadcast station has available for infomercial placements.
analog
audio and video presented or collected in a continuous form as voltage measurement.
analog editing
editing systems manipulating audio and video presented in analog form.
Area of Dominant Influence
a television marketing area defined by Arbitron. Each county in the U.S. is assigned to only one market according to where the majority of household viewing hours are directed.
auction format
an infomercial program structure that mirrors an auction. "Telephone Auction" successfully aired in 1985-86 and presented products for a live audience to bid on. As the bids peaked on each product, the auctioneer dramatically revealed the actual, bargain price for the TV audience, which was significantly lower.
avail
a spot or infomercial time period available for purchase.
average take
term used by continuity marketers to describe the average number of orders a consumer will make once entering a continuity program. For example, a music club member may take an average of 6 CD's before canceling their membership.
