The Hidden Costs of Poor Traffic Scheduling – And How to Fix It
It may be easy to think that a traffic scheduling system is just a back-office task, and think scheduling is just batching ads and programs into a time grid. Still, if not done properly, poor traffic scheduling will quietly drain your revenue, frustrate advertisers and ultimately drive away viewers.
Let’s take a look at the costs associated with poor scheduling and what you need to do to rectify the situation before it gets out of hand.
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1. Revenue Leakage
If your scheduling is not working as it should, then you could be losing ad deals, booked inventory might be getting unintentionally oversold or perhaps your rotation is wrong. All very annoying and burdensome, but also costly! You could incur breaches of contracts, leaving high-value inventory to lie unutilized and impacting your bottom line.
Fix it: Integrate intelligent traffic solutions that use automated rules, real-time inventory levels and dynamic scheduling to minimize human error and optimize revenue.
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2. Advertiser Dissatisfaction
Running the wrong ad in the wrong place, or worse, not advertising at all, can put your relationships at risk. Advertisers want accountability and accuracy, and they’ll pay for it.
Fix it: Utilize scheduling systems that give visibility, reporting, and alerts so your sales and traffic teams remain aligned and that campaigns run as promised.
3. Compliance Penalties
Broadcasters are subject to specific regulations. Missing PSAs, mishandling age-restricted content and exceeding ad minutes can result in significant fines and reputational damage.
Fix it: New traffic software has built-in compliance checks where organizations can customize flags to ensure the organization is never out of compliance.
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4. Audience Drop-offs
Inconsistent programming, disruptive ad breaks, or weak promo placements can annoy viewers to the point that they may switch the channel or platform. Attention is a form of currency, and hard to reclaim once lost.
Fix it: Smarter scheduling tools that allow you to curate content based on viewing habits while optimizing promos to engage instead of annoy.
5. Team Burnout
Inefficient work processes and last-minute corrections waste time and effort. Your traffic team shouldn’t have to work late to fix avoidable mistakes.
Fix it: Use software and tools to streamline workflows that automate scheduling logic, integrate with sales and playout, and eliminate repetitive workload items.
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Conclusion
If a company is poor at traffic scheduling, it is not just aggravating—it is costing the company money, relationships, reputation, etc. The good news, it is fixable. Through technology, processes, and mindset, you can change the practice of traffic from our worst practice to our best practice. Out BOSS Studio broadcasting software is specially designed to optimise scheduling, streamline workflow and eliminate any bottlenecks which in turn help in turning chaos into efficiency.