techedge BreakEstimator Software User Manual
- June 5, 2024
- techedge
Table of Contents
BreakEstimator
User Manual
Changelog
Version| Date
1.0.1| 4/2/2022
• Updated SG support address
CONTACT DETAILS
UK
TechEdge (UK) Limited
Trident House, 5 Lower Middle St
Taunton, Somerset TA1 1SF
Phone: +44 20 7100 9948
ABOUT THIS USER MANUAL
We will update the manual whenever we release a new BreakEstimator feature
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Introduction
The BreakEstimator is the link between the scheduling department and the ad sales department. It is designed to read a future break schedule and quickly and easily estimate the performance of the schedule in multiple target groups. The BreakEstimator will graphically display each break with key metrics such as Ratings, Index and Share.
Settings
Before you commence use of BreakEstimator it must be configured correctly in
the Settings section of the application.
2.1 Reference data
The basic calculation parameters are defined within the Setup menu.
Pressing the [Area] button will enable you
to pick the relevant area from a list of available areas in your installation.
Only one area is allowed per BreakEstimator installation.
After you have selected the area you can select the channels you wish to
estimate by clicking on the [Channels] button. Please note that TechEdge needs
to customize the BreakEstimator to work with specific channels. In the
[Targets] section you can pick all the sales targets that you need estimations
for.
[Index Target] is the target against which all other targets are indexed
(index 100). [Agg. Target] is your primary reporting target. Please note that
both the Index Target and the Agg. Target must also be listed in the primary
list of targets. The [Daypart] button will allow you to create dayparts used
for inventory reporting (please see below). Please check the AdvantEdge User
Manual for details on how to set up dayparts.
In [Universes] you can set up and use a different universe for an estimation.
‘National Universe’ is selected as the default and should be left like this in
most cases.
The period length is the default reference period displayed on the front page
of BreakEstimator.
2.2 Estimation Parameters
In this section, you can set up technical details for BreakEstimator to use
when matching against historical data.
In the ‘Matching priority’ section you can choose if BreakEstimator should
prioritize the program before or after the break when searching for matching
titles in the historical data.
The ‘Matching parameters’ value determines the search interval in the
historical breaks.
You can also define dropout factors for the various dayparts created in the
reference data section.
In the last section ‘Mapping Factors’ you can set factors for break types
other than commercial breaks. For example, if you have sponsorship breaks you
can set a factor for this break type. Estimates for this break type will then
be multiplied by this factor.
2.3 Estimation Rules
In this section you can choose Channels, Specific dates, Dayparts, Rating
intervals and Programmes that should be ignored if present in the historical
data. In the description bar you can type in a title for the rule you are
about to create, press [Add] and create a condition for a break to be
excluded. 
2.4 Dictionary
When a new break schedule is imported into BreakEstimator it will usually ask
what different titles translate to in the historical data. All these
translations are stored and maintained in this section.
It is important to maintain the dictionary in order to keep the quality of
BreakEstimator’s program matching as high as possible.
2.5 System Settings
The import directory (the folder where BreakEstimator will look for the break
schedules) is defined under System Settings. This tab also allows you to set
your preferred decimal separator types. 
Start page
This is the main page of BreakEstimator. In this window future break schedules
are imported, and estimation parameters are defined and analyzed
3.1 Import Files section
The Import Files window will display all the future break schedules located in
the import directory.
If you check the ‘Hide old files’ box the window will only display files that have not previously been imported. Click the file you want to import and press the Import button. If the file you wish to import is not displayed in the window, then please try to run a refresh by using the refresh button ( ).
3.2 Parameters
In the Parameters section you can select the period you want to auto estimate,
set the reference period, and include any additional parameters you want
BreakEstimator to use when auto estimating the selected period.
When a new break schedule is imported the ‘Run period’ field will display the
period covered by that import file. The ‘Reference period’ field will display
the default historical period you have selected in Settings (usually the
latest four weeks). If ‘Match on same weekday only’ is ticked then
BreakEstimator will only search on the same weekdays for matching breaks.
If you check the ‘Use fuzzy matching’ box, BreakEstimator will also match
historical breaks that sound similar. If a historical break sounds similar to
the future break it will use it for matching; for example, ‘fuzzy matching’
will create a match even when breaks have minor differences in spelling.
BreakEstimator uses a Soundex phonetic algorithm to match titles by sound.
The ‘Automatic PUT adjustment’ option adjusts the estimates with the average
PUT (People Using Television, also referred to as Total TV) level for the past
3 years. For see the AdvantEdge User Manual for more info on PUT level. If you
want to scale the estimates by a custom-defined factor you can check the
‘Scale by’ box and set the factor.
Finally, you can also choose only to estimate on specific breaks. Selecting
this option brings up a dropdown list of available channels. Here you can pick
a channel and set a daypart, then press [Run] to commence auto estimating.
3.3 Status
The Status window will give you a quick overview of estimates and/or actuals
for any given period.
In the ‘Navigate’ section you can switch Period and Channel, and below the graph, you can choose the data and level of detail you want the graph to display.
Breaks
Pressing the [Breaks] button on the main page will take you to the Breaks’
details window. This window will display every break that has been imported
from the future breaks schedule file.
It is easy to navigate from week to week, filter on program titles, daypart,
and rating levels, and change target audience and universe.
If you navigate to the Breaks section after you have imported a break schedule
but before running the auto estimation you will notice that all the breaks are
grey, meaning that no estimates have been assigned to the breaks yet. When the
estimation is finished the system will graphically display if the estimation
of a break is strong or weak. A green color indicates that the system is
considers the estimate to be average or good, whereas a red color indicates
that the estimate is considered poor and requires extra attention.
A black-colored break indicates that the break is no longer available in the
latest imported break schedule and is obsolete. You can right-click a black
break and remove it (or all of them). 
4.1 Editing breaks
For each break, it is possible to get a detailed view of which historical
breaks the estimate is made of. All the breaks from the historical data are
displayed in a list view, and the rating levels are displayed graphically in
the chart below. All historical breaks can be removed to change the estimate.
You can also click the individual bars in the chart (holding down the CTRL
key) to indicate which historical breaks you would like to use for the
estimate.
You may also add additional historical breaks if you are unhappy with the
current break the system has picked for the matchup (this can often be the
case with movies for instance). Press the [Similar programs] button and search
for a specific program title in the historical data. When the system has found
a match you can choose to replace all the system-picked breaks, or simply add
the new program (s) to the list of historical breaks. Ratings, Index, and
Share are listed for all chosen target groups on the right hand
side. 
4.2 Editing breaks based on profile 
This feature allows you to edit the profile of the breaks by using a profile
grid (sex and age). The ratings are automatically changed in all targets based
on the change in profile. This is a vast enhancement compared to the normal
practice of simply scaling ratings according to the same ratios as the main
target. Once you are happy with the estimates press [OK]. You will notice that
the break changes colour to blue. This means that the break has been manually
edited by a user and will not be touched if you re-estimate the period at a
later stage.
4.3 Copying and pasting estimates
You can copy estimates from one break to another (or select multiple by
pressing the CTRL key). There are 5 paste variants: 
- Paste all base elements used for rating calculation: historical breaks, profile, user adjustments. One to multiple breaks allowed.
- Paste Rating Indices. This only copies rating as if user had copied and pasted each rating per target/universe.
- Paste Profile only. Keep the destination break’s PUT level, and copy source share.
- Paste One to One. Normal paste, but if multiple selected do the paste for each pair of source and destination. Requires an equal number of source and destination breaks.
- Paste Simple. This copies historical breaks, profile and ratings from one break to one or many breaks without any recalculations. One to multiple breaks allowed. This was developed to be a faster alternative to the normal paste function.
4.4 Filters
You can filter the breaks by Title, Daypart, Type, TRP level or Weekday.
4.5 Inventory
The Inventory functionality gives you an overview of the total inventory
available by target audience, period and daypart.
4.6 Evaluation
The Evaluation function allows you to select target audiences and evaluate the
actual performance compared to the estimate.
4.7 Export
Once the estimation has been done the file can be exported directly to a
booking system.
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