In TV planning, ranking sequences are rankings of broadcasters, timelines or commercial breaks by CPM-C, reach or affinity for the purpose of benchmarking in the relevant target group. They are primarily used to select suitable commercial breaks for a campaign.

The German rate system has an unambiguous code for each broadcast day. It consists of four details that are always fully available. The code is mandatory for advertising. It can be used additionally for other programme types like sponsoring or trailer.

Rate group: 2-digit (classification of the advertising break depending on the kind of advertising)

Price group: 2-digit (determines the spot price of the advertising break; subordinate to rate group)

Hour: 2-digit (scheduled time of the advertising break)

Advertising break no.: 2-digit (channels’ internal number, generally a serial number within one hour / one context)

The following classification applies:

Pricing information for rate groups 1-30 is stored in the reference systems. Special advertisings are classed in rate groups 31 and above so that they are not taken into account for the calculation of averages for total advertising. Rate groups 81-99 contain internal information of the channels which do not refer to advertising breaks and are only licensed to the channel concerned.

Rating is a synonym for the average viewing participation of a program or advertising break as a percentage (audience share). The term is to be distinguished from reach.

Reach means the net coverage of a programme, programme list or campaign. The term is not to be confused with rating.

The panel distinguishes four reception levels, which are considered as independent characteristics both in the recruitment process and in weighting:

• Until 2023: IPTV, Satellite, Cable, and Terrestrial
• From 2024: Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial, and Internet (TV)

Definitions of terms (from 2024):

• Satellite: TV reception via a satellite dish or a satellite communal system.
• Cable: TV reception via a cable connection, typically with a monthly fee paid to a cable network operator.
• Terrestrial: TV reception via DVB-T / DVB-T2, which requires a house, room, or rod antenna and a DVB-T / DVB-T2 receiver.
• Internet (TV): TV reception via the internet, including IPTV, OTT, and hybrid services.

The types of reception are determined in the households for all TV devices under measurement (including connected additional devices). Based on the hierarchy of reception levels, each household is assigned to exactly one reception level.

Reception potential indicates how many people or households can receive a broadcaster terrestrially, via cable, satellite, or the internet. A broadcaster’s reception is considered valid if it was switched on for at least one second in a panel household. Due to this definition, the reception potential of a broadcaster is always smaller than its technical reach, because reception potential is based on actual reception, not all the potential households in the distribution area. Although the reception potential is mostly robust against fluctuations due to its definition, slight changes can still occur in a few cases. Reasons for this may include panel entries and exits, maintenance work, cable network or transponder shutdowns or reallocations, and weighting processes.

Reception potential 60/60 indicates the number of persons or households that switched on a broadcaster for at least 60 consecutive seconds in the last 60 days. Thus, the reception potential 60/60 is subject to temporal fluctuations based on actual use.

The recruitment of households for the AGF panel is based on a representative sample using a random selection process (CATI or Random Route). In principle, it is also possible to achieve first contacts for specific target groups through quota-based recruitment. However, the share of such contacts must not exceed 30 percent of household recruitments per year.

After a brief screening, in which it is determined whether the household meets the target specifications for the AGF panel in terms of sociodemographic characteristics and reception situation, the detailed recruitment interview follows, where relevant characteristics of the household and its members are collected (analogous to the structural survey).

After successful recruitment, the measurement technology is installed, and the household is integrated into the daily reporting.

A red button application is an automatically executed application within the meaning of the HbbTV standard. It is transmitted together with a broadcast programme and launches in the background insofar as it is signaled as “auto start.” These applications often display a red button on the screen, indicating that the application can be activated and visibly displayed by pressing on the red button. Such an application is typically the portal site of a broadcaster that provides additional information and services to the viewer such as access to a media library.

Reliability refers to the reliability and measurement precision of an applied measurement system. In the AGF system, the ICC serves the purpose of a reliability check.

The reporting basis is the potential of persons underlying an analysis. The reporting basis may be the universe, but may also be limited by filter conditions. The reporting basis acts as a prefilter for the target group in analyses.

The reporting ratio describes the proportion of reporting households in the panel (= successful transmission of measurement data through the measurement systems to GfK) to all accessible households. The minimum number of successfully reporting households per day is 5,400.

Representativeness refers to the correspondence between sample and universe in the relevant structural characteristics. The AGF Panel is representative of the population of the Federal Republic of Germany and maps the usage of video in households.