Glossary A–ZLetter U
Utilisation
Utilisation states what share of the available advertising inventory is actually booked in a given period.
It is usually expressed as a percentage, based on ad slots, airtime or ad plays. High utilisation means that few slots remain free.
A network with six ad slots per loop, of which three are filled on average during a month, is half utilised in that month. Network operators and sales houses track the figure by site, week and time of day, because it can vary considerably across them. They fill the free slots with house ads or filler content.
Utilisation and revenue are not the same thing, because discounts, house ads and barter deals occupy slots without bringing in money. Operators should decide whether such bookings are counted and state this openly in their reports. A loop that is permanently full leaves no room for short-notice bookings; very low utilisation points to a problem with price, location or sales.