TV Media Buying Guide

Toast blends access to large media buying savings with personal service to spend your media budget wisely. We work with teams of media buyers to access the savings only offered to clients with large media spend.

If you’re looking for help with TV media buying. Or are confused by some of the TV media buying terminology. See our handy guide to TV media buying terms below.

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2025 TV Advertising Stats

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• Linear TV advertising delivers £1.82 short-term payback per £1 spent; long-term payback averages £5.94 per £1 spent. Source: Thinkbox Profit Ability 2 (2024).
• Broadcasters accounted for over 80% of all video advertising Source: WARC
• UK’s ad market recorded a 10.4% increase in investment to a total of £42.6bn in 2024 Source: NewDigitalAge.
• There were 932 new advertisers on TV in 2024, up from 791 in 2023 Source: Thinkbox

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Introduction to TV Media Buying

Buying TV media can be daunting. It can be challenging for new to TV brands to secure the best media prices. Making sure your brand appears on the correct media channels and hits the right demographic without blowing your media buying budget is a skill. The UK TV market comprises the large media platforms, that break down into sub-brands  covering distinct demographics. This fractured nature makes building an audience for your advert a daunting task. It also allows for highly targeted audiences, which is great for brands with a specific appeal.

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For advertisers looking to buy advertising space during UK television shows, there are two main options. It is possible to deal directly with the broadcasters and buy ad slots. ITV has an arm named ITV Media; it is also possible to use their self-service platform called Planet V. Channel 4 has a similar setup named Channel 4 Sales. Sky has some great options for working directly with advertisers. Their platform, AdSmart, allows for micro-targeting of audiences based on location, house type, salary level, and numerous other factors. AdSmart is an excellent platform for small advertisers, but its flexibility and targeting can make it more expensive than other broadcasters'.

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Shopping around all the broadcasters is a mammoth task; the more straightforward solution is to use a media buying agency that can negotiate deals with all the individual channels. Media agencies plan the audience needed for your specific product and build a suite of channels for your ad to run on. They also look at dayparts so your brand shows up in the correct type of TV programming. Toast works with several media agencies to get the best advertising packages for our clients.

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TV ADVERTISING EFFICIENCY

TV remains the most efficient way to advertise your business or brand. TV advertising offers unparalleled returns when compared to other forms of advertising. Not only does TV advertising provide short-term gains, but it also builds long-term brand building. According to industry body Thinkbox, linear TV advertising has a short-term payback of £1.82 for each £1 spent on media buying. Long-term payback is even better with average returns of £5.94 for each £1 spent. - ThinkBox Profit Ability 2 (2024)

If you’re looking for quick returns from a marketing campaign, TV advertising has two factors that set it apart from other advertising routes. Firstly, TV advertising has a very high saturation point, meaning marketing directors can funnel large budgets into advertising before hitting any diminishing returns. A high saturation point is vital for brands seeking explosive growth and a massive advertising punch to help them achieve lift-off.

Secondly, effectiveness isn’t limited to TV advertising. The halo effect can amplify the impact of any marketing campaign by lending authority and recognition. According to research:

• Nine out of 10 brands saw higher conversion rates from website visitors exposed to TV ads.
• 60% of companies saw a CVR lift of over 50%
• 33% saw a lift of over 100% - Source, AdExchanger

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TRUST IN TV ADVERTISING

TV is also the most trusted advertising platform your media buying can access.

When asked, “In which, if any, of the following places are you most likely to find advertising that is most trusted?” The scores are in:

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TV ADVERTISING – 42%
NEWSPAPERS – 13%
WEBSITES – 9%
RADIO – 8%
YOUTUBE – 6%

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SOURCE: TV/AD NATION, 2016, IPSOS CONNECT/THINKBOX, ADULTS 15+

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HOW TO TARGET AN AUDIENCE

The television advertising landscape in the UK has changed over the past few years. The traditional dominance of ITV has given way to more niche Freeview channels. This shakeup has been significant for TV media buyers as it has forced ITV to up its game.

ITV now has some of the most attractive shows for advertisers looking for young audiences. Love Island drives repeated viewing and is one of the most popular advertising opportunities for those looking to make a splash.

The digital channels haven’t stood still during ITV’s resurgence; they have continued to plough the niche furrow. Niche advertising is great for advertisers wanting to pick audiences that tightly fit their brand or product.

In terms of media buying terminology, viewers split into trading audiences, large clusters of TV watchers. Some of the titles of these groups are ABC1, 16-34 Men, House person with a child etc. These clusters are sometimes too broad. A good media buyer will work with the broadcaster to ensure the advertising resonates with the intended audience.

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BVOD TRENDS

BVOD (Broadcaster Video on Demand) advertising is rapidly gaining popularity in the digital marketing landscape. As streaming platforms and online content consumption continue to grow, advertisers are increasingly recognising the potential of BVOD to reach and engage their target audiences. This shift is fuelled by the convenience and personalisation that BVOD offers, allowing viewers to access content on their terms and providing advertisers with more precise targeting options.

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• BVOD viewing grew 23% year-on-year in 2024 - Source
• 88.5% of all BVOD viewing takes place on the TV set (not mobile/tablet) - Source
• 54% of all Channel 4 viewing among 16–34s was through streaming in September 2025 - Source
• VOD expected to reach 17.2% growth in Q4 2025, with a 23.2% surge recorded in Q2 - Source
• Channel 4 streaming minutes grew 36% year-on-year in September 2025 - Source

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HOW DOES TV MEDIA BUYING WORK?

Once your TV advertising media plan is complete, the process of media buying can take place. Our media buying partners then pick up the phone to their contacts at the TV channel sales houses that handle the selling of advert slots.

Broadcasters are always interested in recruiting new advertisers, so great media deals are possible. We use the power of large media-buying partners to access the best prices for our clients. Much of the media planning and buying processes are automated, with systems available to block book media.

The next step is to collate the purchased media into a TV advertising schedule. This schedule includes a complete list of the adverts and their appearance in the TV programming whether it's linear TV or SVOD services like Amazon or Netflix.

The advertising schedule will quote audience figures. These figures are sometimes estimates of the actual viewing figures, but often they will be based on tracked viewing figures from a previous period.

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GETTING A RETURN ON INVESTMENT

We pride ourselves on TV media buying, which works for the modern era. Media buyers use tracking software to correlate your TV advert schedule with your website visits. Once your advertising campaigns are running, we can check which TV channels perform well. We can adjust our media buying plan to get the best results using this performance data.

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WORKING WITH TOAST

If you’d like to talk to Toast about TV media buying please use the contact form on this page to get in touch.

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