Daily Traffic Procedures

Daily Traffic Procedures include all the steps that are required to produce a log and get it reconciled the following day. This list includes most of the daily requirements of the traffic department except for billing functions, which are described here. The actual procedures you use may involve more or fewer steps. Use this list as a starting point to develop your own daily traffic procedures.

Click here for a printer-friendly one-page checklist of these procedures.

Yesterday’s Log:

• Reconcile Yesterday’ Log - If any or all of your broadcast day is automated, you can run an automatic Electronic Log Reconciliation. Otherwise, use the VT Log Editor. You need to reconcile the log to properly reflect what really happened. Move the spot times to the actual time they aired and bump any spots that did not play. You may either delete the spots or place them on later logs. Add any late spots that may have been written on the log manually. Do this procedure early in the day. You can then take care of resolving missed spots quickly. Especially at the end of the month, the log reconciliation needs to be performed before accepting the log and printing invoices.
• Print the Daily Roster Report - for the log you just reconciled. The Daily Roster Report is an accurate representation of the spots that aired. File the report for future reference. This report may be compared to the daily roster printed prior to airing the log. Then, discard the report you printed when you finalized the log and keep this reconciled version of the report.

Tomorrow’s Log

• Enter new Advertisers - Add/Edit Advertisers Orders are what keep broadcast stations solvent. When the sales department brings in an order for a new advertiser, the first step is to enter the information into VT. You can then begin entering orders for your new client.
• (Optional) Import New Orders - If your sales staff uses Order Express from Marketron Broadcast Solutions, import any new orders they generated using the Order Import Queue. And if your sales staff isn not using Order Express, ask your Sales Manager why.
• Enter new or changed orders - Order Entry Main Screen Hopefully, you will be getting new orders every day. Frequently you receive changes of all kinds to existing orders. Those new orders and changes need to be entered into VT as soon as possible so the VT automatic scheduler can process them.
• Check the Order Approval Queue - Approval Queue Dialog Some orders may require approval or violate a credit policy. These orders will not schedule until they are approved. Check the Order Approval Queue for orders that may require approval prior to scheduling. You may approve them there, or remind the appropriate manager of the need to approve them.
• Print Orders - Print the new or changed orders using the Orders - Internal Use report or the Orders - Contract/Confirmation report or both. Have someone check the orders for accuracy. File the original orders for future reference. Many stations use a three ring binder for future reference.
• Perform any needed Log Maintenance - Make changes to the station log if necessary. This may include template (format) changes to the log structure using the Log Maintenance Dialog. Re-schedule the bump list if needed using the VT Log Editor. Adjust spot locations if desired. Satisfy yourself that the next days log is ready to be produced. Try to get to this point by mid-afternoon – earlier if you are working on a weekend’s worth of logs. Cooperation from the sales staff is necessary to prevent late order arrivals that involve log changes. Establish some cutoff point so there is no misunderstanding.
• Run reports to confirm the log is ready - Run the Bumped Spots Listing for the day and add the spots to the log. Run the Log Conflicts Report to see if any spots are placed closer than your station limits, and manually adjust the spot placement if necessary. Run the Cart/Copy Missing Report (by Station/Date/Advertiser) when you think the log is complete. Fix any problems that are reported.
• Assign Copy and Rotate Carts - Do this from the Edit Menu in the VT Log Editor. When the process finishes, you will be offered the opportunity to preview the Cart/Copy Missing Report (by Station/Date/Advertiser) to see if there are any spots still needing copy. If there are copy problems, fix them, and run the Assign Copy process again and preview the Cart/Copy Missing Report again. You may assign copy as many times as needed - spots that already have copy assigned will not be changed. Only newly placed spots without copy or spots that could not have copy assigned earlier will be affected. Remember that Logs produced for automation systems will not export cart numbers if there are copy missing problems. We recommend that you assign copy one log at a time unless you are working on multiple logs for a weekend. You can also assign copy for multiple logs at one time using the Log Options accessed from Log Maintenance.
• (Optional) Print a work copy of the log - From the Log Editor’s Print Menu. Check it over to make sure it is finished.
• Make the log Official - Do this from the Log Options dialog accessed from Log Maintenance. That dialog also allows you to print the log in official format if needed. Printing the log is optional for automated stations but it may be required (or at least handy to have) when reconciling the log the following day.
• Print the Daily Roster Report - Do this after the log is official. The units and dollar amounts on this report will now match the log units and dollars. This report is mandatory for stations that do not print logs. Use it with the reconcile process and for filing.
• (Optional) Export the Log - Log Export Parameters can be accessed from either the VT Log Menu or the VT Database Menu > Exports sub-menu. If you have an automation system that needs to have the log exported, now is the time to do it so it will be available beginning at the start of your broadcast day. midnight. Do not forget to do this step unless you really like late night telephone calls. Some automation systems start looking for the new log a couple of hours before the day actually starts.
• Run any necessary reports - Each station should be familiar with the many reports available. All departments should be involved in selecting which reports are to be run and when they should be produced. Some may be printed daily, while others may be weekly or monthly. Many stations routinely generate a daily Cash Receipts Application Analysis and a Daily Sales (Detail) Report. Remember that regularly needed reports (such as these) can be automatically scheduled and generated in the VT Report Center. Set the reports up to print in the middle of the night, and they will be ready when you get to work. Of course, all reports can be printed "on demand" whenever you want, as often as you want.
• Old Message Removal - On the VT System Menu under System Information, there are message queues for System Messages, Scheduler Messages and Print Messages. Each of these dialogs has a Delete Completed Messages button. Click the button and use the VT Date Calendar to enter a date to remove old messages through. These messages are never removed automatically. It is a good idea to do this procedure often. A large group of old messages might even affect VT performance.
• Perform a Backup - Be good to yourself. You deserve to have the database protected by making a daily copy. At the end of your day, go to VT System Utilities on the VT Server and backup the VT database.