What is TRP & GRP in Television Advertising ...

Television holds the title of the largest mass medium for advertising for more than 60 years now and that designation has not been overtaken even after the entry and growth of internet medium. It is an imperative and consequential component of media planning because of its pervasiveness, impact, mass reach and targeting abilities. Albeit the world has come a long way in going digital, Television advertising still plays a paramount role when it comes to marketing products and services. Television has the properties of sight, sound, and motion that traditionally set it apart from other media such as radio or print. With its three-pronged assault on its viewers’ senses, TV is able to create broad awareness for a product or services. 

So before we move ahead, let’s address a common and recent misconception that internet is replacing TV viewing. The entry of Netflix, Amazon, ALT Balaji, Viu, youtube etc. it has become a hot topic to anticipate the inevitable decay and demise of television but this is not the case. Logically and mathematically, internet usage is complementing the TV viewing rather than harming it. An example of this is that almost 38% of mobile users have gone online to find information about a product they watched on TV. The new paradigm is a multi-screen experience: television, phone, tablet, and computers.

TV advertising spending is increasing year on year and it’s very crucial for every brand or agency to increase their effectiveness in order to achieve higher ROI. This is where it becomes important to understand and consider the TRP’s and GRP’s. Let us take a look at what these things are and how they work.   

What is TRP?

TRP (Television Rating Point) refers to a percentage of audiences that views a certain television program or watches television during a certain time slot. It quantifies the exposure level of advertising messages that are delivered to a specific target audience in term so reach and frequency. Typically it is calculated over a one week period.

The TRP’s are calculated by measuring the time spent in watching the television program or slot. Let’s assume that 10 people who have watched a certain TV program that runs for 30 minutes, in the following way:  

Viewers	Duration of viewing the program
Person 1	10 minutes
Person 2	5 minutes
Person 3	6 minutes
Person 4	24 minutes
Others	Not watched at all

It will be calculated as: TRP is equal to = ((10/30 + 5/30 + 6/30 + 24/30)*100)/10 = 15

The core objective of identifying the TRPs of different Television programs is to find out which is the most-viewed TV program as it helps advertisers in choosing the right channels and time-slots/program for running their ads so as to maximize their visibility and impact on television.

Once advertisements are aired on television channels, brand owners or advertising agencies will also want to know if all those efforts were worth the money. This is where GRPs comes in picture.

What is GRP?

GRPs stands for Gross Rating Points that determine how many people actually saw the advertisement. It can be derived by multiplying the reach of an ad with its frequency.

For example, Sunsilk Shampoo is advertising for their new variant and are targeting women between 18 and 49 years of age. Now, let us say 40% of this group watches a TV program called ‘Naagin’ that is aired on XYZ channel between 7:30 and 8:30 PM. During this time brand or agency have run advertisement 3 times. So your GRP will be calculated as follows:

It will be calculated as: GRP is equal to = 40 X 3 = 120

Each GRP equals 1 percent of the total audience; a TRP equals 1 percent of the target audience. If 40 percent of total TV households saw your commercial one time, that would translate into 40 GRPs. If your target audience was 50 percent of the total audience, that would translate into 20 TRPs.

GRP tell us the number of households your message can reach as a percentage of the total population of television viewers. Essentially, GRP is a cumulative measure of the impressions your campaign is earning. Rather than the number of people watching the ads, GRP calculates the number of impressions an ad creates. It is, therefore, one of the major metrics used to plan and measure media buying.

Both the terms have their own significance in media planning and buying process wherein TRP helps in media buying and GRP determines the effectiveness of media buying.

Lastly, avoid expecting TRPs and GRPs to do more than what they actually do. That your commercial aired on a show does not mean that everyone watching the show actually saw the spot. Some viewers may have been preoccupied with other activities. Moreover, these metrics ignore audience engagement -- the extent to which viewers pay attention to advertising content

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