Compare TV programs and rotations

Start with what the station actually offered

Each TV station submits its own response inside an RFP Exchange. Open Avails and keep the original request in view. A response is comparable only when you understand how its program or rotation relates to the requested daypart, audience, spot length, and active weeks.

Read the Avail identity first:

• station and market;
• Program or Rotation;
• the supplier-defined inventory name;
• exact market-local days and hours;
• spot length; and
• Requested or Alternative status.

An inventory name can be helpful, but the submitted schedule remains part of the commercial definition. Confirm that the program or rotation sits inside the window you intended to buy.

Understand program and rotation responses

An exact Program identifies specific programming. A Rotation describes inventory distributed within a named schedule or package. Neither is automatically better.

Choose based on the RFP:

• prefer an exact program when its content, adjacency, or audience environment is material;
• prefer a rotation when flexibility can improve availability, delivery, or cost without weakening the objective; and
• treat a materially different schedule as an Alternative, even when the supplier's label sounds similar to the request.

If the rotation boundaries or placement rules are unclear, ask in the shared Exchange conversation before building an Order. Do not infer guaranteed placement from a broad name.

Read each active week

The response marks every active week Offered or Not offered. An offered week includes the station's spot rate and projected impressions per spot for the RFP's primary demographic.

Compare:

• weekly availability;
• projected impressions per spot;
• the derived CPM from rate and projected impressions;
• the delta from the RFP goal CPM; and
• the requested weekly impression target.

TV delivery and pricing can change by program, rotation, and week. Check the weekly pattern instead of relying on one flight average.

Evaluate alternatives deliberately

When the station marks an Avail Alternative, read its reason and compare the returned program, rotation, window, and spot length with the requested line. An alternative can solve a real availability problem, but Tap keeps the distinction visible so it is not mistaken for a direct match.

Ask for clarification when the station substitutes a rotation for a required program, shifts the daypart, changes the spot length, or bases its projection on context you cannot reconcile with the request.

Check response status and conflicts

Review any measurement notes and the supplier's exclusion check. If a possible conflict was acknowledged, decide whether the acknowledgement resolves the risk before ordering.

Submitted response revisions are immutable. A later replacement is a new revision, and a withdrawn response cannot support a new Order. Use the current orderable response. Once an Order is sent, its exact program or rotation, schedule, rate, and quantity are snapshotted and do not change with a later response revision.

Shortlist the TV inventory

Keep the Avails that fit the objective and the weekly delivery shape. Tap can build Lowest cost, Highest reach, or Balanced mix compositions from orderable responses. Each is an inspectable suggestion, not a booking decision. Review the programs, rotations, property mix, whole-spot quantities, projected delivery, and cost before turning a composition into draft Orders.