A TV commercial is not done when the client approves the cut - it is done when a traffic desk at a broadcaster accepts a file with the right Ad-ID, the right slate, and the right loudness. Between those two moments sit four distinct approval gates, and mixing them up is why "final" spots still miss air dates. This post walks the gates in order, with the US, UK, and Canadian differences date-stamped November 2026.
The four gates, in order
Gate 1 - Brand sign-off. The marketing owner (or client) approves the creative: story, tone, brand marks, pack shots. This is the round most review tools are built for, and the only gate where subjective feedback belongs.
Gate 2 - Legal and claims substantiation. Every on-screen claim ("clinically proven", "up to 2x faster"), every super, and every disclaimer gets checked against substantiation documents. Legal rarely watches the film for craft - they read supers frame by frame, which is why supers need their own review pass at full zoom.
Gate 3 - Clearance. The regulatory step that generic approval workflows skip. In the UK, Clearcast clears ads against broadcast advertising rules before transmission, working from script through finished ad. In the US there is no central body: each network's Broadcast Standards & Practices department reviews the spot against its own checklist (per Extreme Reach's North America broadcast specification, updated April 2026). In Canada, clearance through ThinkTV/Telecaster is mandatory.
Gate 4 - Traffic delivery. The spot becomes a broadcast file: a unique Ad-ID, a 5-second slate plus 2 seconds of black, active audio and video starting at frame 168 at 23.98 fps or frame 210 at 29.97 fps, loudness at -24 LKFS per ATSC A/85, MXF OP1a preferred. Ad-ID length caps differ by broadcaster - ABC/ESPN 13 characters, NBC 15, DIRECTV 16, CBS 20, FOX/Discovery 25 - and the traffic instruction must match the media file exactly (all per the XR spec current as of April 2026). This gate belongs to delivery vendors like XR, not to your review tool - the honest line is where each stage hands off.
Why cutdowns need their own review pass
A 60-second spot rarely ships alone. The standard package is a family of versions - 60, 30, 15, and sometimes 6 seconds, plus vertical and square crops for social. A cutdown is not a trim: the story re-paces, supers move, and the legal disclaimer that fit at :45 may not fit at :12. Common industry practice (not a codified standard) is that each duration gets its own review pass before clearance, because clearance decisions attach to specific versions. In a review tool, treat every duration as its own version with its own approval state - one "approved" flag on the 60 does not cascade to the 15.
Captions on commercials: the country split
Here is the fact that surprises US teams: under the FCC's caption rules, an advertisement of five minutes' duration or less is explicitly not "video programming" (47 CFR 79.1(a)(10)), so no federal US regulation mandates captions on a standard TV spot. Captions on US commercials are a network expectation and a client policy, not a legal requirement - which is why captionless Super Bowl spots occasionally make news. Canada is the opposite: closed captions are mandatory for all Canadian commercials per the broadcast delivery specifications. If your campaign runs in Canada, the CC track is a deliverable that needs review like any other version.
| Region | Who clears the ad | Captions on ads | Source (as of Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | Clearcast (script + finished ad) | Compliance-driven via clearance | clearcast.co.uk |
| US | Each network's Broadcast Standards & Practices | No federal mandate for ads of 5 minutes or less; network/client expectation | 47 CFR 79.1(a)(10); XR spec Apr 2026 |
| Canada | ThinkTV/Telecaster clearance (mandatory) | Mandatory on all commercials | XR North America spec |
Where a review tool fits - and where it does not
Review tools own Gates 1 and 2, and they help at Gate 3's preparation: frame-accurate comments let brand and legal mark the exact frame a super changes, version stacks keep the cutdown family organized, and approval states give you a record of who signed which version. They do not submit to Clearcast, they do not negotiate network standards notes, and they do not generate Ad-IDs or validate loudness - Gate 4 is delivery-vendor territory (XR in North America and equivalents elsewhere). The efficient setup: run brand and legal rounds in one review link per cutdown, export the approved master with a signed approval trail, and hand the traffic vendor a package that has never been "final" by email vote.
For the round mechanics themselves - lanes, one decision owner, threads resolved before re-export - the video approval workflow guide carries the generic version; this post is the broadcast-specific layer on top. And when the client asks why the spot they approved still cannot air, the four-gate map above is the answer.
FAQ
What is ad clearance and how is it different from approval?
Approval is the client-side decision that the creative is right. Clearance is the regulatory/standards check that the ad may broadcast - Clearcast in the UK, per-network Standards & Practices in the US, mandatory Telecaster clearance in Canada. A spot can be fully approved and still fail clearance.
What is an Ad-ID for a TV commercial?
A unique identifier registered for each commercial version that traffic systems and broadcasters use to match the file to the booking. Length caps vary by broadcaster (ABC/ESPN 13 characters, NBC 15, DIRECTV 16, CBS 20, FOX/Discovery 25 per the April 2026 XR spec), and the Ad-ID on the traffic instruction must match the media file exactly.
Do TV commercials legally need captions in the US?
No federal mandate: FCC rules define video programming to include only advertisements longer than five minutes, so standard TV spots are outside the caption mandate (47 CFR 79.1(a)(10)). Most networks and clients still expect them, and Canada requires captions on every commercial.
Do the 15- and 30-second cutdowns need separate approval?
Treat them as separate approvals in practice: cutdowns re-pace the story, move supers, and may change claims language, so each duration gets its own review pass before clearance. One approval state on the 60-second master does not transfer to the :15.
Where does the review tool stop in broadcast delivery?
At the approved, signed-off master. Slate generation, Ad-ID registration, loudness conformance, and MXF packaging are traffic-vendor territory - your review tool's job is getting the right version approved with a clean record of who approved it.