CATV-(Community Antennae TV) Now known as cable TV, it refers to the 6 MHZ path on a spectrum which carries a TV signal.

CGI – The common gateway interface (CGI) is a popular scripting language that enables programmers to create dynamic web pages. An example of a CGI powered web site feature might be be a web site’s feedback form or banner rotation program.

CPA – Cost per action (CPA) is one of the online payment models by which advertisers pays for ever action (sale or registration) completed as a result of a visitor clicking on their advertisement. Prices typically range from $1 to $25 or if a percentage of a sale 5% to 25%. This is an ideal method of payment for advertisers who want to guarantee only the number of customers generated as a result of a advertisement.

CPC – Cost per click (CPC) is one of the online payment models by which advertisers pays for each click through made on their advertisement. Prices typically range from 1¢ to over 50¢ per click through. This is an ideal method of payment for advertisers who need to guarantee they only pay for those viewers of the banner that click on it and visit a page on their site.

CPI – Cost per inquiry (CPI) is the same as cost per lead, CPL.

CPL – One of the types of CPA, a cost per lead (CPL) method allows advertisers to pay for every lead or customer inquiry that resulted from a visitor who clicked on a their advertisement. Prices typically range from $1 to $10. This is an ideal method of payment for advertisers who want to guarantee only the number of potential customers with an interest generated as a result of a advertisement. Also known as cost per inquiry (CPI).

CPM (Cost per thousand) – The cost of a media vehicle (or media schedule) for reaching each 1,000 of the specific audience.

CPP (Cost per point) – The cost of a media vehicle (or media schedule) for reaching one rating point (one percent) of the specific audience.

CPS – One of the types of CPA, a cost per sale (CPS) method allow advertisers to pay whenever a visitor who clicked on their advertisement generates a sale. Prices typically range from $1 to $25 or if a percentage of a sale 10% to 25%. This is an ideal method of payment for advertisers who want to guarantee only the number of paying customers as a result of a advertisement.

CPT – One of the types of CPA, a cost per transaction (CPT) method allows advertisers to pay whenever a visitor who clicked on their advertisement generates a transactionusually a sale. Prices typically range from $1 to $25 or if a percentage of a sale 10% to 25%. This is an ideal method of payment for advertisers who want to guarantee only the number of paying customers as a result of a advertisement.

Cache – A type of computer memory that stores previously accessed documents locally so that they can be accessed faster should they be needed again. If you go back to a web page that you have previously visited, much of the pages content may be able to be accessed from your cache instead of requesting the data from the server againthus decreasing the time it takes to load the page.

Cache Bursting – This process, also known as “defeating cache”, is accomplished by adding a random number to the banner HTML each time the page is reloaded. This causes a separate banner request to be sent to the server, thus insuring the banner is not cached and banner advertisement impressions are not undercounted.

Call Letters – Stations identification, e.g. KTRK

Campaign-The total planned, coordinated sales effort on behalf of a specific client or product, often multimedia in nature and run over a period of time.

Catalog-An illustrated booklet listing products or services available.

Center Spread – An ad printed on two facing pages printed on a single sheet in the center of a saddle-stitched magazine.

Circulation – The total number of copies of a publication that are circulated, either by sale or free of charge.

Classified – Advertising space within print media sold by word or line.

Click Rate – The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click through. Calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. For example if a banner was click on 13 times after being displayed 1000 times, the banner would have a click rate of ( 13 ÷ 1000 = .013 ) 1.3%. This is also commonly know as a banners click through rate.

Click Through – The action of clicking on a banner and having ones browser automatically redirected to the web page a banner is hyperlinked to.

Clicks – The number of click throughs that have occurred as a result of a user clicking on a banner and being redirected to an advertisers web page.

Clickstream – The path a visitor takes while navigating from site to site or from page to page within a web site. Useful to publishers to see what path people are taking before leaving their site.

Client-An organization that employs an advertising agency to create advertisements.

Clios– Annual awards given for excellence in radio and television advertising.

Coaxial Cable– made up of a conducting outer metal tube, insulated from a central conducting core.  It transmits electronic signals.

Column Inch – Used to describe the “area” of a newspaper ad; width is indicated first, by columns wide.

Combination Rate – A special discounted rate for buying space in two or more publications that are owned by the same publishing group.

Commercial– An advertisement on TV or radio.

Comparative – An advertising appeal that consists of explicitly comparing one product brand to a competitive brand. Can be effective when one brand has a major advantage over another and they are priced the same.

Composition – Audience profiles of total circulation composed in percentages.

Concept-The general idea behind a slogan, pitch, or campaign.

Console – A type of popup window. Pop up windows that launch when a visitor leaves a site are often called exit consoles.

Consumer Market– A defined group of consumers

Controlled Circulation – Measured distribution of a publication issued free of charge to readers who qualify under certain criteria.

Conversion Factor- A television term that quantifies the relationship between demographic GRPs and household GRPs. This relationship can be derived for individual programs or for a schedule of programs by dividing the demographic ratings by the TV household ratings.

Cookies – A process by which a small file is sent from a web server to the local users computer to store information unique to that browser. Often used by advertisers to keep track of the number and frequency of advertisements that have been shown to a visitor or by sites to help them determine the number of unique visitors.

CO-OP– The practice of a national brand subsidizing local advertising costs incurred by a company that sells its product. Typically the national brand has stringent rules about the advertisement in which the product appears.

Copy – The finished advertisement; includes artwork or film separations for print media.

Copy Writing – The process of writing text for an advertisement that gets readers attention, generates interest and desire and prompts action.

Corporate Identity-A company’s name, logo, typeface, colors, slogan, etc. are elements that help compromise it’s corporate identity.

Coverage – Percentage of a defined target audience who has the opportunity to see or hear an advertisement during a specified period (also known as reach).

Cover Position – An advertisement on the second, third or fourth cover of a magazine, often sold at a premium price due to high visibility/high profile of position.

Creative – The technology used to create a banner or other type of advertising material. Common creative types include GIF, JPEG, Java, HTML, Flash or streaming audio/video.

Cross Platform – The industry term for multimedia buy or strategic alliance with a media company incorporating a number of their various assets.

Cume Persons– The estimated number of different persons listening to a station during a particular daypart . This estimate, expressed in hundreds, is shown for the metro, TSA and DMA in applicable Arbitron Radio market reports.

Cume Rating– The cume persons estimate expressed as a percentage of the appropriate estimated population. The estimate is shown only for the Metro in Arbitron Radio Market Reports.

Cumulative Audience (cume) – The non-duplicated audience of persons who have viewed/listened to a given issues/programs or time periods. In broadcast it is for a minimum of 5 minutes. It is expressed as a percentage of a given universe. Also known as reach or net reach.