In-Depth Guide to Ad Clearance

Welcome to our comprehensive guide to Ad Clearance. This guide should help you get your ad broadcast-ready, from scripts to final approval. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just dipping your toes into ad clearance, this guide is your trusty companion.

Understanding the Clearance Process

To get started, watch our animated guide for a visual walkthrough of the three-stage clearance process. This introduction will set the stage for the detailed explanations that follow.

How long should I leave for Clearance?

Clearance is a three-stage process, and you should leave two to three weeks for the entire process.

Our clearance process is made up of three stages that run alongside the production of an ad. Approval at each stage happens in The Clearcast Library, as explained below. All stages must be completed, even if your ad is already made.

Stage 1: Script Clearance

The first stage of every clearance, even if your ad is already made, is to submit your script via The Clearcast Library.

Submitting Your Script:

Create a ‘campaign’ in The Library, linking all your ad materials together.
Within the campaign, create a ‘script material’ and upload your script, including necessary storyboards and substantiation for any claims made.
Ensure your script includes all spoken words, visuals, and onscreen text.

For guidance on uploading your script, refer to our script submission user guide and demo video.

Your assigned Clearcast contact will review your script and provide feedback within approximately three working days. Scripts with advanced scientific or technical claims may require additional time for consultant review.

Once your script is approved, you can proceed to the ad’s production and move on to the next stage.

Script Submission Best Practices

To ensure your script is processed as quickly as possible, please follow these best practices:

Include All Spoken Words: Ensure your script covers every spoken element of the ad, including dialogue, voiceovers, and presenter scripts.
Provide Visual Descriptions: Include visual descriptions of the ad, either through screengrabs or a concise written description.
Note Audio Descriptions: If your ad will include audio descriptions for those who are blind or partially sighted, mention this in the submission feedback section and include the proposed description on the script.
Incorporate Onscreen Text: All onscreen text, both creative and legal, must be included in the script.
Single Script Submission: Submit only one script per campaign in The Library.
Preferred Formats: Word documents are preferred for script submissions, but PDFs or PowerPoint files are also acceptable.

What Happens After Script Submission

When you submit a script for clearance, here's what you can expect:

Initial Review: Your Clearcast contact will assess the script against the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP) and identify any claims that need supporting or any other points requiring clarification. Feedback will be provided via The Library.
Consultant Involvement: If your script involves complex issues, such as scientific or technical claims, it may be reviewed by one of our consultants. This is usually handled via email, but if needed, we can facilitate a meeting. To arrange a meeting, contact your Clearcast representative or email meettheconsultants@clearcast.co.uk.
Policy and Copy Meeting (PCM): If further discussion is required, your script may be submitted to our daily Policy and Copy Meeting (PCM), where copy managers and the head of copy clearance will make a decision. We’ll let you know what decision is taken.
Copy Committee: In rare cases, if a decision cannot be reached at PCM, your script may be referred to our monthly Copy Committee. This panel includes representatives from the broadcasters we clear for and members of the IPA and ISBA. This step is considered a last resort and happens rarely.

Substantiation

Substantiation is the term we use for the evidence we need in support of any claims made in your ad. Substantiating your claims is a necessary requirement as per section 3.9 of the BCAP code. To streamline the process, we ask that you use our template documents when supplying substantiation to us. This ensures a quicker and smoother review process.

Retail Substantiation: Use the Retail Substantiation Form for retail offers.
Claim Support Model (CSM): For more complex or detailed submissions—such as those involving science-based claims (e.g., cosmetics, medicine, dieting)—use the Claim Support Model (CSM). This model is also applicable to any claims requiring substantial supporting data.
Claims Support Form
Claims Support Model Guidelines

If your script does not fall under retail and the CSM is too detailed for your needs, you must use a document on the client’s headed paper that’s signed off by a senior person at the client to cover the claims in your script. Please make sure it’s clear, concise, and addresses all the points raised in the script.

Please note:

We can’t accept web links or press releases as substantiation. Information from websites used to support claims must be presented in a different format, such as screengrabs incorporated into a substantiation document. Make sure you include details of the website from which the information was taken.
All substantiation must be uploaded to your submission via The Library. Please do not email substantiation to your Clearcast contact.

Making a Decision

Once we have received suitable substantiation and determined that your script meets the necessary criteria, we’ll sign it off in The Library, where you will be able to see our feedback.

If the script does not comply with the BCAP code, we will inform you of the specific issues and suggest ways to amend the script to achieve approval.

Stage 2: Rough-Cuts Clearance

For stage two of the clearance process, you’ll need to upload the filmed version (rough cut) of your ad to The Library. For guidance on uploading your rough cut, refer to our rough cut submission user guide and demo video. This stage, while not mandatory, is highly recommended as it can save you time and money later on.

Steps for submitting a rough cut:

Create a Rough-Cut Material: Within your campaign in The Library, create a ‘rough-cut material’ entry. Input the required information and upload your video file.
Review Process: Your ad will be reviewed by the Copy Clearance team in our daily viewing meeting. This helps ensure that the ad complies with the relevant codes and regulations. We will also check your ad’s ‘supers’ (superimposed legal text) to confirm that the text’s height and the duration it is held on screen are legible and compliant.
Feedback and Adjustments: You will receive feedback outlining any required changes or approval. If there are issues, you can make adjustments and upload the revised rough cut to the same submission, avoiding the need for a new one.

Benefits of submitting a rough-cut:

Efficiency: Saving you time and money by allowing us to check the ad is in line with the approved script before you’ve created and clocked the finished version
Compliance Check: Ensures your ad passes our flashing and legal text checks (see below for more info). If it fails, you can upload your revised rough-cut onto the same submission instead of creating a new one
Issue Identification: Helps to detect any issues not identified at the script stage and provides advice on timing restrictions.

Review Process:

Daily Viewing Meeting: Your ad, whether rough cut or final TVC, will be reviewed at our daily viewing meeting. We convene at 10am each morning to watch all ads submitted to us in the preceding 24 hours. Ads received by midday will be viewed the following morning.

Approval and Feedback: During this meeting, our copy clearance staff will check your ad for compliance and decide on approval. We will inform you once your ad has been approved and detail any restrictions that need to be applied. If we are unable to approve the ad, we will provide feedback as soon as we can, including the reasons for the decision.

Important Note: Approval of the rough cut does not guarantee acceptance of the final version, particularly if changes are made between the rough cut and the final TVC.

Stage 3: TVC Clearance

Submission: After your rough-cut has been approved, upload the final version of your ad, known as the ‘Clocked’ version or TVC, to The Library for final approval. This version is what needs to be delivered to the broadcasters you’ve booked airtime with.

Create a ‘TVC material’ within your campaign.
Upload the clocked ad with a clock slate.
Order subtitles (closed captions) if needed.

For guidance on uploading your TVC, refer to our TVC submission user guide and demo video.

Approval Process: This is the final stage where you receive clearance for your ad. Once the rough-cut has been approved, create a ‘TVC material’ within The Library, input the required information, and upload your final clocked ad along with its metadata. The system will perform QC checks, including audio, flashing, and video duration. If your ad fails any of these checks, you will be able to view details of the failure and amend your submission as needed without having to re-clock or create a new submission.

Final Review: If your ad passes the QC checks, it will be reviewed by your Clearcast contact for final approval. You can view this approval status in The Library, and it will also be visible to the broadcasters.

Delivery: Once final approval is granted, your ad is ready for delivery through your preferred supplier for broadcast.

Clocked Edit Checklist: When submitting a clocked edit, ensure you include:

7 seconds of countdown clock at the start of the video file, followed by 3 seconds of black screen, all of which should be silent.
A clock number clearly displayed on the screen during the countdown.
0-second vision hold or 5-second vision hold with silence at the end of the video file.

If you need guidance on creating a clock number, refer to the ‘How Do I Create a Clock Number and Slate’ guide.

Additional Considerations

Costs and Optional Services

There are no costs involved in the process, provided your ad will be transmitted on one of the channels we clear for. This includes on-demand and online channels.

If the channel isn’t on this list, you should approach them directly for clearance of your ad, as they may require a different clearance process.

Charges may apply for optional services during the clearance process. These include:

Late Clearance: For ads needing expedited processing due to imminent transmission deadlines.
Fast Track Service: Guarantees feedback within 1 working day for urgent submissions.
Edit to Clear: We can streamline help with getting your ad format and technical aspects right.
TV Admin Services: We can manage the complete end-to-end process for you or help with your admin, international clearances, copy instructions and ad deliveries

Late Submissions

If the ad’s transmission is imminent and there isn’t time for standard clearance, we will do our best to provide provisional clearance. This allows you to run the ad on the stations you’ve booked airtime with while we work on full approval. Provisional clearance doesn’t provide the same checks and guarantees as final clearance and can be overturned at a later stage. This is chargeable, and a difference service than fast track. For further details, click here.

Technical Specifications

Technical specifications for all Rough-Cuts and TVCs can be found here.

If you have any technical questions or your file has failed transcoding or QC and you need further clarification, please email our support team at help@clearcast.co.uk.

Legal Text

Legal text (also known as ‘Supers’) is often required in ads and must comply with regulations regarding size and ‘hold’ time, such as how long it is onscreen. It must always be in standard sentence case, not upper case lettering.

Passing our legal text checks requires careful consideration. If a finished ad fails these tests, it can’t be transmitted and will need a new clock number.

We have two tools on our website to check your legal text before submitting your ad to us: the Height Of Super Test Card and the Duration of Hold Calculator.

For more detailed information on Supers, refer to the Super and Flashing segment.

Flashing

All video submissions must comply with guidelines on flashing images. Useful information about flashing can be found in the Super and Flashing segment.

If you have any questions about any stage of the process, please email edittoclear@clearcast.co.uk.

Helpful Documents

Helpful Resources

Library Tech Guide – Technical specifications for any rough-cuts you upload.
Library User Guides – How to create your Stage1, 2 & 3 submissions on The Library.

We always respond as quickly as possible to confirm clearance, raise issues, or request substantiation. During clearance, we may require advice from our specialist consultants, which may extend the approval time.

Clearance of the actual clocked ad (or a rough-cut) is usually processed within 2-3 working days if the ad is in line with your approved script and there are no technical issues with your video file.

Our service levels explain how long it may take us to provide a response in more detail.

Contact and support information

Anyone who registers with us is assigned a specific contact. If you have any questions about your ad, please submit them to your contact to receive the quickest response. If your contact is away, their work will be covered by one of our cover team or by another member of staff. You can find out who will be covering your work by emailing clearcast_cover@clearcast.co.uk.

If you have a technical question (e.g. about file specs, failed transcoding, or using The Library), please contact the helpdesk.