Reference library · TV budgeting
Prime-Time Uplift
Prime-time uplift is the percentage premium added to a channel's off-prime CPP to derive the price of prime-time inventory. It exists because prime avails are scarcer and carry higher audience delivery, so sales houses and buyers price them above the blended or off-peak rate rather than at a flat average CPP.
Formula
Worked example
Off-prime CPP on a market channel is €380 and the negotiated prime-time uplift is 40%. Prime CPP = 380 x 1.40 = €532. Buying 250 GRPs in prime therefore costs 532 x 250 = €133,000, versus 380 x 250 = €95,000 if mistakenly priced at the off-prime rate — a €38,000 gap the plan must budget for.
How it is used
Planners pull the off-prime CPP from the channel's rate card or the last negotiated deal, apply the uplift the sales house quotes for prime dayparts, and use the resulting CPP to cost prime GRPs in the plan before discounts. The recurring mistake is using a stale off-prime CPP baseline (from a prior quarter or a different daypart mix) and layering the current uplift onto it, which silently over- or under-states the prime price.
The common mistake
Always refresh the off-prime CPP baseline for the current buying period before applying the uplift, rather than applying this period's uplift to an old baseline.