When choosing an audience to target with TV advertising, advertisers can define it by gender, social class and age at a national or regional level. The total number of people in this audience is then known as the universe.

There are a huge number of possible target audiences that we can measure, however the number that we use to actually trade TV is much smaller and so one of the key tasks when planning a TV campaign is to identify which audience should be traded in order to reach the target audience most efficiently.

Should an advertiser have a specific target audience that cannot be traded on TV then it is common practise to convert to a trading/buying audience that will give them access to the best performing and most appropriate TV channels and programmes for their target audience.

So, for example, a brand may want to reach a target audience of adults 55+. This isn’t a traded audience so converting to a trading (or buying) audience of ABC1 Adults is likely to give  that campaign access to the best suited and performing programmes for adults 55+.

Part of the planning process is determining which channels give you access to the right programmes and, ultimately, are most effective at reaching your audience.

With 600 or more channels available in the UK, the breadth of programming content provides a wealth of opportunities for advertisers. This enormous diversity, ranging from broad appeal to the very specific, enables marketers to reach both mass and niche audiences.

In order to meet your communication objectives efficiently, it is essential that the right mix of channels is bought.

There are three measures that are used to describe a channel’s profile:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Class

These can be compared to either the population as a whole, or the overall profile of commercial TV.

To determine which channels most effectively reach your target audience, we advise speaking to your media agency or to the TV Sales Houses direct if you have not appointed a media agency.

There are also various industry tools available to help you understand which channels most effectively reach your target audience.

You can see all of the different channels available to advertisers in the UK, the Sales House which represents them, and their contact numbers, here.