Costs and pricing
Part of What connected TV advertising costs and pricing means for English buyers
How to structure a connected TV advertising budget template explained
A template guide to building a connected TV advertising budget, covering the line items English planners miss, a worked pound example and sign-off questions.
What to take away
- A connected TV budget template is a decision record with four blocks: media, production, measurement and contingency.
- Every line carries an owner, the source of the assumption, the date checked, and a net or gross flag.
- An indicative split for a six-week test is media 65 to 70 per cent, production 10 to 15 per cent, measurement about 5 per cent, contingency 5 to 10 per cent.
- Model a mid and a high case, and write down what you cut first.
Four blocks, in the order finance reads them
Media is the line everyone tracks and the one most teams over-simplify. Split it by environment: broadcaster video on demand, subscription ad tiers and free ad-supported streaming. Each route has its own buying method and minimum commitment.
Production, measurement and contingency follow. Production covers the creative build and versioning. Measurement covers verification and attribution fees. Contingency covers over-delivery, re-cuts and rate movement.
Treat the percentage split as a sanity check, not a rule. Two-thirds of the total sitting in media is a normal shape for a six-week test. A plan where production outweighs media usually means the brief is driving the buy.
Our connected TV advertising costs and budget guide for England sets out the wider cost structure this template sits inside, which helps when a reviewer asks why a block exists.
The template skeleton to copy
Paste this into a spreadsheet before you price anything. The columns are the ones a reviewer will ask for.
| Line item | Owner | Assumption source | Date checked | Net or gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media: broadcaster video on demand | Media planner | Platform rate card | 12 January | Net |
| Media: subscription ad tier | Media planner | Platform quote | 12 January | Net |
| Platform or technology fee | Media buyer | Contract terms | 15 January | Gross |
| Creative build and versioning | Brand manager | Production quote | 9 January | Gross |
| Measurement and verification | Analytics lead | Vendor quote | 9 January | Gross |
| Contingency | Finance lead | Internal policy | 20 January | Net |
Planners miss the same lines when they work from a rate card alone. Clearance, talent usage windows, cutdown versions and the platform fee are the usual omissions.
[figure 1]
Budget template line items
- Media split by environment
- Rate assumptions with dates
- Minimum commitment in writing
- Platform or technology fees
- Cancellation window
- Net or gross of commission and VAT
A budget sheet without an owner and a date is a guess with formatting.
Example: a worked £30,000 plan
The figures below are illustrative, not quoted rates. A team plans a six-week flight with a £30,000 budget.
A worked £30,000 plan
| Line item | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Media, blended across environments | £20,000 |
| Creative and production | £4,000 |
| Measurement and verification | £1,500 |
| Platform and technology fees | £1,500 |
| Contingency | £3,000 |
| Total | £30,000 |
A planner might model £18 to £28 cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for a broad 25 to 54 audience, again as an illustration. The blended media line will not match any single platform quote.
Effective cost per thousand impressions sits above the £20,000 media line, because production, measurement and fees sit on top.
[figure 2]
Six-week flight, £30,000 budget
- Media, three environments£20,000
- Platform or technology fee£2,500
- Production and versioning£4,000
- Measurement and verification£1,500
- Contingency£2,000
Set the cancellation window beside the rate. A flight booked with 30 days notice is not flexible, whatever the rate card implies.
Sign-off: owners, dates and trade-off order
- Name one owner for the sheet. A file edited by three people drifts before sign-off.
- Date every assumption and record where it came from.
- Agree the trade-off order in writing, starting with what gets cut first.
- Fix the cancellation window and the under-delivery rule for each platform.
- Confirm whether the total is net or gross of agency commission and VAT.
A £30,000 planning figure that excludes VAT is not what finance will pay.
Publishers lose revenue to ad blockers and restricted environments. The IAB UK guidance on ad blocking explains the publisher view, so treat full delivery as an assumption to test.
How the budget ties to return on investment
Divide the whole budget by the incremental outcomes you expect. That gives a true cost per acquisition or per incremental sale.
If media is £20,000 and the other blocks add £10,000, the denominator is £30,000. A target built on the media line alone looks 50 per cent better than it is.
Set that target before sign-off. Our guide to connected TV advertising return on investment shows how to pair the target with a holdout or matched control so the number means something.
The IPA Effectiveness Databank collects UK cases on how video and digital channels perform over time.
Common questions
How many line items should a connected TV budget template have?
Enough to show the four blocks separately, and no more. If two lines always move together, combine them.
Should the template use one figure or a range?
Use a range for anything priced by auction or season. Use a single figure for fixed costs such as production.
How often should assumptions be refreshed?
Before every flight, and again at the midpoint if delivery is off plan. Measurement assumptions age fastest, and connected TV advertising attribution methods compares the options so you know which fee to re-quote. If a rate card is indexed, check the ONS inflation and price indices before re-pricing a block.
What makes a template fail at sign-off?
A missing trade-off order. If finance cannot see what gets cut first, they cut the largest line rather than the weakest one.
