Local TV reaches broad audiences across all types of programming — news, sports, talk shows, entertainment, and more. By default, Skybeam spreads your campaign across all available content to maximize reach. But sometimes your brand has specific needs: content that doesn't fit your image, time slots when your audience isn't watching, or programming that clashes with your message.
The Exclusions step in campaign setup lets you steer your ads away from specific genres or time windows — without sacrificing the simplicity of self-serve.
Keep exclusions minimal for best results
Every exclusion reduces the pool of available inventory, which lowers reach and typically increases CPM. Only exclude what genuinely doesn't work for your brand.
Excluding Genres: Align Your Campaign With Your Brand
Different brands have different content comfort zones. A financial services company might want to avoid entertainment programming. A family-friendly brand might steer clear of late-night comedy. Excluding genres lets you make sure your ads appear in the kind of content environment that fits your brand and resonates with your audience.
You can exclude up to 10 genre clusters. But News and Talk are high-volume genres. They make up a large share of local TV inventory. Excluding either one will meaningfully reduce reach and raise CPM — excluding both together has an even bigger impact.
Excluding Dayparts: Reach Your Audience at the Right Time
TV viewership patterns vary throughout the day. Depending on who you're trying to reach and when they're most likely to be watching, some time windows may simply not be relevant for your campaign.
You can exclude up to 3 dayparts.
Understanding the Trade-off
Every time you add or remove an exclusion, the Campaign Forecast widget updates in real time — showing you the adjusted impressions and CPM based on your remaining inventory. This gives you a clear picture of what each exclusion costs you in reach and efficiency before you commit.
Important note – excluding overnight does not change cpm
Use this as your guide: if the drop in impressions or rise in CPM feels significant, it's worth reconsidering whether that exclusion is truly necessary.
Before You Submit
The campaign summary page includes an Exclusions section showing the full list of genres and dayparts you've excluded. Give it a final look before submitting — Local TV campaigns can't be modified once they go live.
For a full walkthrough of the campaign setup process, see Local TV Campaign Setup.