Please also note, our clearance services will be unavailable on Monday 19th August whilst we complete the switchover from CopyCentral to The Library for all stages of clearance.

Linear airdate

Instructions, copy approval and delivery by EOP

VOD Deadlines: Copy, rotations & tags required for activation for the 26th and 27th August must be delivered by the end of the day on Thursday 15th August.

Normal delivery

• Linear copy Instructions should be supplied at least two clear working days before transmission.
• Linear copy should be delivered at least two clear working days before transmission to avoid a late delivery surcharge.

Remember…

• To comply with these deadlines please make sure additional time is factored in for clearance approval.
• Approval should be before or by the delivery date, please be aware that two clear working days are required for video approval and we always advise you to leave at least two weeks for full clearance.
• Copy received dates are to avoid late copy surcharges being applied by some broadcasters.
• UK broadcasters are represented by: ITV, Sky Media and Channel 4.
• Agencies with clients that find these deadlines unworkable should contact individual broadcaster sales representatives directly to agree on their needs.
• On the working day before a bank holiday weekend our clearance service shuts down when the broadcasters have received all the cleared copy – we’ll always post on X and LinkedIn about early closing. Our delivery service remains open for business on these days.
• If using our delivery and subtitling services you can deliver your clocks to stations while copy is awaiting approval.

If you have any questions, get in touch with us.

Improving ad accessibility is a number one priority for Clearcast and a cause we’ve been championing for almost two years with our #AdsforAll campaign.

So we’re thrilled to support Channel 4’s new campaign to make sure every ad played during the breaks of the live coverage of the Paralympic games, on all platforms, will be subtitled.

To make this process as smooth as possible, we’ll subtitle and deliver your ad to Channel 4 for just £100 and guarantee a turnaround of 12 hours.

Sadly, the number of subtitled ads is still low, with our toggle data in The Library showing that only 21% of all ads were subtitled for the first half of 2024, with a record low of 16% for June alone.

Last month RNID updated its statistic on how many adults in the UK live with hearing loss, from 12 to 18 million. That’s a vast audience missing out on your messaging during one of the most inclusive moments in the TV calendar. If you really want to make an impact with your advertising, subtitling is the very first step to making sure your message is accessible.

With our optional subtitling and delivery service, you can be part of C4’s fully subtitled Paralympic campaign for just £100.

If you know your ad is due to air on Channel 4 or any of their platforms, during their Paralympics coverage and you’re familiar with The Clearcast Library, then go ahead and order, following the simple steps below:

How to take part

Scenario 1.  How to order subtitles when creating your ‘Material’ in The Library

When creating your Material in The Clearcast Library, be sure to keep the ‘Subtitles’ toggle on (beneath your clock number) and follow the subtitle ordering process.

Follow the links below for guidance on this.

Understanding Subtitling Options in The Library

Demo vid: Clearcast Subtitling Ordering

Scenario 2. How to order subtitles when your ad is already clocked and cleared

If you’ve already clocked and cleared your ad, but it’s not subtitled, don’t be put off! You won’t need to put your ad through the whole clearance process again, you’ll just need to re-upload it with a new clock number and switch on the “Historic material” toggle. Ensure to leave the subtitle toggle on and you can continue the subtitling and delivery process from there.

And we’ll do the rest!

Questions and further info

If you have any questions about the process or need any help please email subtitles@clearcast.co.uk, delivery@clearcast.co.uk or call the team on 020 7339 4700.

To find out more about our work in improving ad accessibility, our Delivery and Subtitling service, as well as our Style Guide for adding subtitles to your campaign, please follow the links below:

News and Blogs | Clearcast

Delivery | Clearcast

Subtitling | Clearcast

Clearcast Subtitling Style Guide for TV Ads

We’ve been encouraging the industry for some time to think more about making their ads accessible, because the numbers have been low. We’ve been tracking your intention to subtitle since the start of 2024 and we now have the data to share with you.

Not only do we have a social responsibility to make TV ads available to everyone, but the opportunities to grow and connect to a wider audience if you do, are clear. There are 2 million people with sight loss in the UK and 12 million people with a hearing impairment and brands aren’t reaching these people if their ads aren’t accessible. A 2017 study revealed that brand awareness increased 18% for ads that were subtitled. And let’s not forget that young people are almost four times more likely than older people to use subtitles, despite having fewer hearing problems. Another vast audience.

A year ago we ran our #AdsForAll survey to learn what the barriers were to making ads accessible. We asked about your interest in us tracking levels of accessible ads in order to report these numbers back. This suggestion was backed by 90% of respondents.

We reported in January that we would be changing the subtitle ‘toggle’, which tracks your intention to subtitle your ads in our submissions system, The Library. We changed it to be ‘on’ by default, with the aim to encourage more of you to think about making your ads accessible, rather than just leave the toggle ‘off’ and think nothing more of it.

The time has come for us to publish these figures. As you’ll see from the graphs below, the numbers jumped a little in February but there hasn’t been much change since then in terms of the growth as a percentage of all ads submitted to us.

We hope as more people become aware of the low levels and the ease with which ads can be made accessible, that by the next time we publish the data, we will have even higher numbers to report.

Why aren’t more people subtitling their ads?

Let us address some of those barriers that typically get in the way of people not adding Subtitles or Audio Description to their ads.

1. I didn’t think about it

Maybe it’s just never crossed your mind, or it was forgotten at the planning stage and now time is tight. Next time, factor it in to the planning, even before script stage. Talk to your team and your ad delivery provider early about your plans.

2. I don’t know where to start

Our industry partners have been hard at work creating resources to help you understand the process. In October 2023 ISBA and Flock launched ‘REFRAME: Guidance for Marketers on how to incorporate Accessibility into their advertising campaigns’. Thinkbox have a section on their site called ‘Accessible TV advertising’ and Egta have an ‘Ad accessibility’ knowledge hub.

3. Isn’t it expensive?

Maybe it wasn’t budgeted for and your team assume it’s prohibitively expensive. Talk to your ad delivery provider about their fees, you might be surprised. If you deliver your ads with us we can subtitle your ads too.

4. Will it spoil my creative?

Nope! To demystify concerns around the creative being impacted, you could try our accessible ads training, which highlights the options available and shares best practice tips and insights from us as well as RNID (Royal National Institute of the Deaf), and RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind).

Please visit the accessibility area of our website for further info on our work around this topic.

At the start of the year, we let you know about our plans to combine all stages of clearance into The Library for a more efficient end-to-end workflow. 

To help you prepare, we’re inviting you to a free 30 minute training webinar which we’ll run at 11am on Tuesday 21st May and Thursday 6th June. 

This is a chance for agencies and advertisers to prepare ahead of the switchover from CopyCentral to The Library for the pre-production stage of clearance.

You’ll get a full system demo of the pre-production clearance process and a sneak peek into the new and improved features that will speed up your workflows.

Whether you already use The Library (for your final TVCs), or you’ve never used the system before (you use CopyCentral for scripts/rough cuts), this webinar is an absolute must for you. 

Book your place on either date below and if you have any questions, just get in touch. 

Tuesday 21st May

Thursday 6th May

Watch the video

We’ll contact you shortly with more information on training webinars and we’ll make sure to give you as much notice as we can before we switchover to The Library fully.

If you don't have a Library account yet, you can register here to save time down the line.

 Please make sure that our email address is on your company's ‘safe sender list’ so you receive important updates on this 👉clearcast_communications@clearcast.co.uk

 In the meantime, our FAQs below should answer any questions you have, but if not, just get in touch.

FAQs

If you have any questions, please get in touch.