Affidavit — the broadcaster's proof that a spot aired

An affidavit of performance is the broadcaster's formal statement of what actually aired: which spots ran, on what date, at what time, at what length, in which programme. It is what an advertiser is paid against, and it is generated from the station's as-run log rather than from the schedule that was planned.

Planned, aired, attested

Three different records, and confusing them is the usual source of a billing dispute. The schedule is what was booked. The as-run log is the automation system's record of what the playout actually did — including the spot that was dropped for a news special and the one that ran ninety seconds late. The affidavit is the as-run log turned into a document the broadcaster stands behind and the buyer can put in front of a client.

Why it is called an affidavit

Historically it was sworn — a notarised statement, which is where the name comes from, and why «proof of performance» and «POP» are used for the same document. Electronic delivery has replaced the notary nearly everywhere, but the legal weight is the point: the invoice is payable because the broadcaster has attested to the airings, not because it says so on a schedule.

Outside the English-speaking market the same document goes by other names and is often a regulatory requirement rather than a commercial convention — see broadcast certificate, which is what it is called where this platform is live.

What makes it slow

The affidavit sits between the campaign ending and the invoice being paid, and when it is assembled by hand from playout exports it is the step that holds up the money. Everything downstream waits on it: post-buy reconciliation, any makegood that turns out to be owed, and billing.

In OpenMediaLogic it is produced from the airings the system already holds, which is the part of media sales automation that shortens the gap between the last spot and the paid invoice.