| Follow is a checklist of
questions for buyers of O-O-H media to ask when presented with outdoor circulation data by
an outdoor company, First, however, a quick review of the definition of DECs is in order. |
DEC ( Daily
Effective Circulation ) is the basic unit of measurement in the Out of Home industry. It
quantifies the audience, defined as the number of adults 18+ that have the opportunity to
view a particular billboard, on a daily basis. It is generated by converting raw vehicular
traffic volume data, obtained mostly through government sources, into potential audience
exposures by applying factors that adjust for three things:
- The number of adults 18+ traveling in the car by multiplying by 1.35
- The time period of exposure. For an illuminated board the period of
exposure is 6 am to 12 midnight, which, on a national basis, will account for 95% of the
potential audience of the billboard
- The conversion of a raw, two-way vehicle count.
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Now for the checklist:
- Is the Out-Of-Home company audited?
This is the single most important question to ask. If the company is
audited, it should be able to provide the buyer with an audit statement, officially called
a Plant Operator Statement, for its market. The Plant Operator Statement is the outdoor
company’s proof of audit and summarizes the plant’s data that was verified by a
TAB auditor. This includes plant capacity, average market DEC, and such market coverage
information as how the plant’s data fits into standard government Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) and Neilsen Designated Market Area (DMA) definitions. TAB will be
happy to provide any agency with a current member list upon request.
- Is the data source verified by TAB?
The TAB Plant Operator Statements and TAB’s annual " Summary
of Audited Markets" book are the only published sources of TAB audited audience data.
Any other document provided by the media, such as a location list or proposal, has not
been specially reviewed by TAB, even if it contains reference to TAB auditing or
membership by means of stamp or text. TAB strongly recommends that buyers verify any
specific DECs that are being proposed to them by outdoor company members. This service is
available to TAB members only.
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