Delivering Spots to Stations and Platforms

A spot that misses the station's spec does not air. Nobody calls to say the file was 30 seconds and 4 frames. Traffic rejects it, or worse, the automation clips the last word of your sponsor line, and now the ad is out of compliance on air. Delivery is the boring last mile, and it is where small campaigns lose whole days of their schedule.

Get the spec sheet first

Every station, cable system and streaming platform has its own spec sheet: format, frame rate, loudness, slate, file naming, how to send it. They differ, and they change. Before you export anything, email the station's traffic or production department and ask for the current commercial delivery specs, plus the deadline for the first air date. Most will reply within a day. Some will want the spot through a digital delivery service rather than email. Ask.

Everything below is what specs commonly ask for, so you will understand the sheet when it arrives. When the sheet says something different, the sheet wins.

Exact length

A :30 is 30.00 seconds. Traffic systems schedule breaks to the frame, so a spot that runs 30 seconds and 4 frames either gets rejected or gets its tail cut off. One major ad distributor's spec, for example, requires a :30 to be exactly 900 frames measured at 29.97 frames per second, and rejects spots that are not exact lengths.

To get there:

• Set your editing timeline to the frame rate the spec asks for, and set the in and out points to exactly 30:00 (seconds:frames).
• Video should run from the first frame to the last, with no stray black frames at the end unless the spec asks for them.
• Audio should fade or resolve just before the end. Leave a few frames of quiet so no note gets chopped.
• Radio is measured in time, not frames. Export at exactly 30.0 seconds, or slightly under if the station prefers. Some radio stations accept :29.5 to give the automation a breath. Ask.

The AV craft chapter on frames and time explains frame rates and timecode if any of this is new.

Loudness

TV: -24 LKFS

Loud commercials were the reason Congress passed the CALM Act. Under the FCC's rules, effective December 13, 2012, TV stations and pay TV providers must follow the ATSC A/85 Recommended Practice so that commercials match the average loudness of the programs around them. A/85 recommends a target of -24 LKFS, measured over the full spot with an ITU-R BS.1770 meter, and the NAB's best practices describe adjusting short-form content that lands more than 2 dB from the station's target.

Common delivery numbers, as of October 2026:

• Integrated loudness: -24 LKFS, often with a tolerance of 2 dB either way. Some stations ask for 1 dB.
• True peak: no higher than -2 dBTP is the common ceiling. Some specs are stricter, and older ones may list peak limits in dBFS.

ATSC published a major revision of A/85 in July 2026. Coverage of the revision describes added clarifications and streaming guidance; the FCC's rule incorporates A/85 by reference, and the -24 LKFS target in stations' current spec sheets is what you should deliver to until your station tells you otherwise.

The CALM Act sets no loudness rule for radio or internet ads. TV only.

Radio

Radio stations set their own targets, and many run everything through their own processing chain anyway. Some ask for a specific integrated loudness, some only ask that peaks stay below 0 dBFS (the Ad Council's radio guide says levels must not peak above 0). Ask. And do not crush the mix to make it louder: the station's processor will squash it further, and a spot that was already squashed comes out sounding harsh. A clean, dynamic mix with the voice clearly on top survives processing best.

Online

Platforms normalize playback, each in its own way. A mix delivered at a sensible level with clean peaks plays fine nearly everywhere. If a platform publishes a target for ads, follow it. Otherwise keep true peak at or below -1 or -2 dBTP and do not slam a limiter.

To measure and adjust loudness, StudioConverter handles loudness along with conversion and compressing to a target size, and the SoundStudio loudness section explains the meters. The AV craft chapter on levels, headroom and loudness covers the same ground for video.

Slate and black

A slate is a card at the very start of a TV spot file that tells traffic exactly what this is. It is not broadcast. A common layout from the AICP deliverable spec is 5 seconds of silent slate, then 2 seconds of silent black, then the spot. Some distributors want no slate at all, so the slate rule is one more reason to read the spec sheet.

A slate usually lists:

• Advertiser or committee name
• Spot title ("Twice a Day")
• Length (:30)
• Ad code (see below)
• Production or air start date
• Contact name and phone
• Audio format (stereo, for example)

Radio spots usually skip the slate and carry the same information in the file name and the email or delivery form instead.

Spot codes: ISCI and Ad-ID

Every spot needs a unique code so traffic schedules the right version. For decades the industry used ISCI codes. In 2007 the ANA and the 4A's withdrew ISCI in favor of Ad-ID, a central registry. You will still hear people say "ISCI" out of habit.

An Ad-ID code is 11 characters: a 4-character advertiser prefix and 7 more characters, with a 12th character "H" added for HD video, per Ad-ID's own documentation. National buys and many TV stations require one. Ad-ID is a paid service.

Small local radio buys often do not need an Ad-ID at all. The station assigns its own cart number or asks you to name the file a certain way. Ask what the station wants. Whatever code you use, put it on the slate, in the file name and on the order, and never reuse a code for a different version of the spot. If you change one word, it gets a new code.

File formats

These vary more than anything else. Common examples, as of October 2026, so you recognize them on a spec sheet:

Do not upscale a 720p edit to 1080 and call it HD, and do not convert a 23.976 timeline to 29.97 at the last minute without checking the result. The AV craft chapter getting it out the door and why the export looks different cover the traps. AVPrep can convert files and strip metadata in the browser, which is handy for removing personal or location data from files before they leave your hands.

Deliver and confirm

1. Send the file the way the station asked, with the code, title, length, flight dates and contact in the message.
2. Include the sponsor and, for political buys, whatever paperwork the station's political sales office requests. Political buys come with forms, and they go in the station's public file.
3. Ask traffic to confirm the spot was received and passed their check.
4. Listen or watch for the first airing if you can. Check that the sponsor line plays in full.
5. Keep a folder with the final file, the script, music licenses, talent releases, consent forms and source documents for every claim. If anyone challenges the ad, you want all of it in one place within five minutes.