Dates for your diary: Broadcaster deadlines

Here you can find the joint UK broadcaster deadlines timetable, as agreed by Channel 4, ITV and Sky, for any upcoming bank holiday periods.

This usually happens four times a year:

Easter (March / April)
May & Spring (early & late May)
Summer (August)
Christmas and new year (December – January)

Bookmark this page as it’ll be updated with new timetables as and when they’re released (usually 1-2 months before).

If two bank holiday periods are upcoming, scroll down to see the second timetable underneath. If no timetables are shown, please check back nearer to the time.

The timetables provide the deadline you need to have completed the following steps by, in order for your ad to be ready for its booked air date:

Copy clearance approval
Delivery
Copy rotations / media instructions (CRI)

For any campaigns airing around these times, make a note of the deadlines for both linear and Video-On-Demand (VOD), to ensure your ad makes it to air and that you avoid any last minute stress or surcharges.

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for notes from us and the broadcasters.

☀️ Summer (August Bank Holiday) timetable

Bank Holiday: Monday 31st August 2026

Linear deadlines

Linear airdate	Deadline (clearance, delivery & CRI) by EOP
Tuesday 25th August	Thursday 20th August
Wednesday 26th August	Friday 21st August
Thursday 27th August	Monday 24th August
Friday 28th August	Monday 24th August
Saturday 29th August	Tuesday 25th August
Sunday 30th August	Tuesday 25th August
Monday 31st August **	Wednesday 26th August
Tuesday 1st September	Wednesday 26th August

Bank Holiday **

VOD deadlines

VOD airdate	Deadline (clearance, delivery, CRI & tracking tags) by EOP
Between Monday 31st August – Tuesday 1st September	Wednesday 19th August

Reminders

Notes from the Broadcasters

These deadlines are in place to help you avoid late copy surcharges being applied by some broadcasters.
Linear copy should be delivered at least two clear working days before transmission to avoid a late delivery surcharge.
Linear copy instructions (CRI) should be supplied at least two clear working days before transmission.
Agencies with clients that find these deadlines unworkable should contact individual broadcaster sales representatives directly to agree on your needs.

Notes from Clearcast

To comply with these deadlines make sure you factor in additional time for the clearance process to take place. We advise that you start the clearance process as early as possible, but leave a minimum of two weeks.
Clearance approval should be before or by the delivery date (although if you’re using Clearcast Delivery to deliver your ad, you can deliver your clocked ads to the broadcasters while your copy is awaiting approval).