Dictionary of Marketing Terms: sweeps
sweeps
specific time period when television network audience sizes are calculated in order to determine advertising rates for the following season. Sweeps start mid-week and end mid-week, and run for a four-week period in February, May, November, and July. Typically the networks program highly popular and new shows during sweeps to attract larger audiences, since advertising rates are based on number of viewers. The name derives from the networks' desire to sweep up the entire available audience.
