What are "sweeps?"

1. The times of year in which television audience measures are taken, for purposes of setting local television stations' media rates.

2. Research methods designed to track the behaviors of consumers from the television set to the supermarket checkout counter.

3. Buying periods that take place prior to the upcoming television season when the networks sell a large part of their commercial time.

4. Situations where the coverage of the media exceeds (extends beyond) the target market.

5. Testing the effectiveness of television commercials by inserting test ads into actual TV programs in certain local (test) markets.