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TV ad pre-testing
TV ad pre-testing shows a commercial to real viewers before it airs and measures how they respond, so you can fix the creative while it is still cheap to change. It is different from TV ad testing in the media-buying sense, which measures how a live campaign performs on air. EchoDepth plays your animatic, rough cut or finished film to viewers matched to your audience, 15 or more per audience segment, each watching at home on their own webcam after giving consent. We code their facial response against 44 FACS Action Units on every frame and plot it second by second as an Emotional Response Curve of valence, arousal and dominance. You see where the story builds, where it loses people, how they react to the brand and which moments to keep when you make 20 and 10 second cut-downs. Testing the animatic before the shoot is where pre-testing saves the most money.
Updated 17 October 2026. Platform details checked against Clearcast Help: New to TV advertising.
When to test a TV ad
Every format is shown to viewers at its native aspect ratio and length.
- Animatic, before the shoot
- The cheapest point to change the story. Animatics produce a usable curve, though at lower intensity than finished film.
- Rough or finished cut
- Find the weak seconds and fix the edit before the ad goes for final clearance and airtime.
- 30, 20 and 10 second cut-downs
- The curve shows which moments carry the ad, so cut-downs keep the right ones.
- Connected TV
- The same film on streaming and broadcaster on-demand services, tested the same way.
What you can learn
Every finding traces back to a moment in your ad and the facial movements behind it.
- The story arc
- Where response builds and where it sags across the full running time.
- Peak moments
- The seconds that move faces most, with the Action Units behind them.
- The brand moment
- How viewers react around the logo, product and end frame.
- Cut-down choices
- Which scenes earn their place when you shorten from 30 seconds.
- Stated vs felt
- What viewers say in a short survey, set against what their faces did.
How an EchoDepth test works for this format
Remote and browser-based, managed for you from brief to debrief.
Send the film
An animatic, a rough cut or the finished ad, plus any cut-downs.
Match the audience
Testers matched to your buying audience on age, gender, region and category use.
Watch at home
Viewers play the ad in a browser, webcam on, after consent, then answer a short survey.
Readout and debrief
Second-by-second curves, peaks, drops and the brand moment, walked through on a call.
Pre-test or live test?
They answer different questions. Most teams need both.
| Pre-test with EchoDepth | Live test in market | |
|---|---|---|
| When it happens | Before the shoot or before airtime | After the ad is on air |
| What it tells you | Which moments work and why | Reach, response and sales effects of the campaign |
| Cost of a change | A re-edit, or a change to the script | A re-shoot, plus airtime already spent |
| Limits | One viewing in a study, so wear-out can't be measured | Too late to fix the creative cheaply |
A single pre-test measures response to one viewing. It cannot tell you how an ad will wear out after people have seen it many times on air; that needs in-market tracking. In the UK, broadcast ads also go through Clearcast, which asks for a script first and advises allowing at least two weeks for script clearance, so build the pre-test into the schedule before the final clearance stage rather than after it.
Questions
How the measurement works is set out in the methodology. For other formats, see YouTube ad testing and TikTok, Reels and Shorts ad testing, or the ad testing overview.
How do you test a TV ad before it airs?
Show it to a matched sample of viewers before broadcast and measure their response. EchoDepth plays your animatic or film to 15 or more consenting viewers per audience segment on their own webcam, codes their facial response on every frame and shows second by second where it works, so you can change the edit before airtime.
What is the difference between TV ad pre-testing and TV ad testing?
TV ad testing often means testing how a live campaign performs on air, which is a media-buying question. Pre-testing tests the creative itself, before it airs, so you can fix the story, the edit or the cut-downs.
Can you test an animatic before we shoot?
Yes, and it's where pre-testing saves most. Animatics produce a usable emotional curve, though at lower intensity than finished film, so compare animatics with animatics.
Can a pre-test tell me about wear-out?
No. A pre-test measures response to one viewing. Wear-out happens after repeated exposure on air and needs in-market tracking.
How does pre-testing fit around Clearcast?
Clearcast reviews a script first, then optionally a rough cut, then the final ad, and advises allowing at least two weeks for script clearance. Pre-test the animatic or rough cut early enough that any changes go through clearance with the final version.