Media Buying
Flight / Flight Dates
The specific, contractual start and end dates of a marketing campaign or a schedule of broadcast commercials.
What is Flight / Flight Dates?
A flight is an advertising burst with a defined beginning and end. A typical radio flight might be four weeks long, run Monday–Sunday, and be followed by a 'dark' hiatus period before the next flight begins. Flighting is how seasonal advertisers (retail, auto, travel, concerts) concentrate media weight around purchase-intent windows rather than running continuously.
Flight dates are also critical for sales intelligence. A competitor's flight-end date is a sales opportunity: it is the moment their contract is up for renewal, their budget is being re-evaluated, and an alternative pitch has the highest probability of landing. Tracking competitor flights is one of the highest-leverage activities a broadcast sales team can do.
Why it matters
Sales teams using intelligence tools track competitor flight dates to know exactly when an advertiser's current contract is up for renewal.
Related terms
- Co-op Advertising (Co-operative)— An arrangement where a major product manufacturer financially subsidizes the advertising costs of a local retailer promoting their specific product.
- Direct Sales— Advertising inventory sold by the station's internal account executives directly to local business owners, completely bypassing advertising agencies.
- Unit— One distinct commercial message or advertisement, regardless of its total duration or length in seconds.
- Adjacency— An advertising pod positioned immediately next to a specific, high-value program feature, such as a weather report or sports update.