Alternative press newspapers or alternative newspapers
Newspapers geared toward a young, entertainment-oriented audience.
Generally weeklies that present non-mainstream ideas, lifestyles, and viewpoints in
usually a tabloid format.
Audience composition
A description of a media vehicle's total audience in terms of demographic classification
of individuals. The percentage of individuals in each demographic cell
Audit Bureau of Circulations, Inc. (ABC)
Organization that verifies and publishes distribution and other information on newspapers
and consumer magazines. An organization formed by media, advertisers and advertising
agencies to audit the circulation statements of its member magazines and newspapers.
Average frequency
The mean number of times target audience members reached by a media plan are exposed
to vehicles or messages.
Best food day
Print: The designated day of the week (usually Thursday or Wednesday) when
newspapers feature food product or supermarket advertising and coupons, frequently with
related articles on health, recipes, etc.
Black & white page
An advertising page that uses no color. Often abbreviated as P B/W.
Business newspapers
Newspapers like the Financial Times, which serve a specialized business audience.
Circulation
Print: The total number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that is distributed by
subscription, newsstand and/or bulk. This figure may or may not be guaranteed.
The number of newspapers distributed each day (for daily newspapers) or each week (for
weekly publications).
Classified advertising
Newspaper advertising that appears as all-copy messages under categories such as
sporting goods, employment, and automobiles.
Closing date
Print: The date set by a publication for receipt of material for an advertisement to appear
in a forthcoming issue.
Column inch
A unit of advertising space in a newspaper, equal to one inch deep by one column wide.
Composition
Usually refers to the portion of a media audience which falls within specified
demographic parameters.
Continuity discount
Print: A rate discount allowed an advertiser who purchases a specific schedule within a
series of publication's issues.
Controlled circulation
The number of copies of a newspaper that are given away free.
Cooperative advertising
The sharing of advertising expenses between national advertisers and local merchants.
Also called co-op advertising.
Discounts
For advertisers from media based on the quantity, volume, expenditures or continuous
placement of advertisements A strong incentive to build frequency within a vehicle, as
opposed to building reach across vehicles.
Display advertising
A newspaper ad that includes the standard components of a print ad—headline, body
copy, and often an illustration—to set it off from the news content of the paper.
Double-page spreads or Double Truck
Print: A two-page spread in newspapers where the editorial content or the advertising
runs across the gutter.
Ethnic newspapers
Newspapers that target a specific ethnic group.
Flat rate
Print: The nondiscountable rate charged by a newspaper for advertising.
Four-color page
An advertising page that utilizes three colors as well as black. Abbreviated as P4C or 4CP.
Frequency
General: The average number of times an individual or household is exposed to an
advertising schedule over a certain period of time.
Interactive: The number of times an ad is delivered to the same browser in a single
session or time period. A site can use cookies in order to manage ad frequency.
Print: Also used to refer to the period issuance of a publication (e.g. monthly, weekly).
Broadcast: Also refers to an FCC-authorized AM or FM band designation assigned to a
city service area and a radio station licensee.
Frequency discount
A rate discount allowed an advertiser who purchases a specific schedule within a
specified period of time.
Free-standing insert (FSI)
A newspaper insert ad that contains cents-off coupons for a variety of products and is
typically delivered with Sunday newspapers.
Full position
A basis of buying newspaper ad space, in which the ad is placed near the top of a page or
in the middle of editorial material.
Gay and lesbian newspapers
Newspapers targeting a gay and lesbian readership.
General-population newspapers
Newspapers that serve local communities and report news of interest to the local
population.
Insertion order
Purchase order between a seller of advertising and a buyer (usually an advertiser or its
agency).
Insertions
The number of advertisements (ads) placed in a vehicle or vehicles within a specified
time period.
Media
The plural term used to refer to all means that can be used to speak on behalf of a brand.
Traditional media include newspapers, magazines, radio, television, outdoor advertising
and yellow pages. Untraditional media can be far reaching and includes everything from
fruit stickers to T-shirt advertising.
Media category (or Media Type)
Refers to a similar group of media vehicles, such as consumer magazines, newspapers,
radio stations, and so on.
Media Rep (representative)
A person who is employed by a media company that sells either time or space to
advertisers.
Medium
One of the forms of communications that can be used to deliver advertising messages to
consumers (i.e. magazine is a medium; newspaper is a medium)
Merchandising
Promotional activities that complement advertising and that are provided free or at a
nominal charge by media purchased for advertising.
Newspaper Designated Market
Print: The geographic area in which the publisher believes the newspaper has its greatest
strength.
Open rate
Print: The maximum rate charged by a magazine or newspaper - its rate for one insertion.
Paid circulation
The number of copies of a newspaper sold through subscriptions and newsstand
distribution.
Preferred position
Print: Advertisements scheduled in specific positions as agreed by the advertiser and the
publication (opposite of ROP).
Preprinted insert
An advertisement delivered to a newspaper fully printed and ready for insertion into the
newspaper.
Price/Item advertising
Also known as display advertising, this is a form of local display newspaper advertising
where a variety of merchandise is displayed in the ad and accompanied with a description
and punctuated with a price.
Rate base
Print: The circulation of a print vehicle upon which advertising space rates are based; it
may or may not be guaranteed by the publication.
Rate card
A form given to advertisers by a newspaper and containing information on costs, closing
times, specifications for submitting an ad, and special pages or features available in the
newspaper.
A listing published by print and broadcast media that show advertising costs, mechanical
requirements, issue dates, closing dates, and circulation information.
A pamphlet, brochure, or single sheet of paper that states the costs for advertising on or in
an advertising vehicle as well as other pertinent information relating to the vehicle, e.g.,
circulation, mechanical requirements, etc.
Reach
The approximate percentage of a target audience's population which will be potentially
exposed to an advertising message at least once during a specified period of time. Reach
is normally measured over four week periods. Common to all media.
Readership
Print: Total number of individuals in a selected group (e.g., adults, males, females 18-34)
that are estimated to recognize, or to have read or looked into a particular publication
within an issues life cycle. The technical definition varies, depending on the method used
to measure it. However it is measured, readership is a more useful tool for advertisers
than is circulation.
ROP (Run of the Press or Run of Paper)
Print: An advertising insertion that runs anywhere the publisher chooses in the
publication. The position is not specified.
Short rate
Print: The dollar penalty an advertiser pays for not fulfilling space requirements that were
contracted for at the beginning of a given period, usually one year. The penalty is the
difference in rate between the contracted rate and the actual earned rate.
Single copy (sales)
Print: Copies of a magazine or newspaper that are sold at newsstands, etc., as opposed by
subscription.
Space Reps
Rep is slang for representative. A space rep is someone who sells print media.
Standard Advertising Unit (SAU)
Print: Measure intended to make separate newspapers comparable despite different page
layouts. Essentially, one SAU is equivalent to one column inch, whether the newspaper is
a broadsheet or a tabloid. There are 57 defined SAU sizes for newspaper advertisements.
SRDS (Standard Rate and Data Service)
A service that publishes the advertising rates, discount structures, mechanical
requirements, closing dates, production capabilites and other important information about
the media.
Supplements
Print: Newspaper-distributed magazines.
Tabloid
Print: Newspaper with a page size that is approximately half that of a broadsheet or
standard newspaper.
Vehicle
Carrier of advertising messages such as a magazine or a television program.
Zoned edition
Print: Applies to newspapers that offer advertisers subdivisions of their total circulation.