media glossary

R

ragged
Ragged right, ragged left, means the type will have unjustified (uneven borders) on one side, the other, or both.

RAM (Random Access Memory)
The computer's main memory, which is used by applications programs. The information stored in RAM can be altered by the user, but is lost when the computer is shut off.

random access The ability of a computer processor to accept or extract information from its memory or storage regardless of the order in which the information is written or read.

rate card Formal document which lists all rates for all frequencies and all ad sizes offered by a medium. Includes costs of video, sound, color, demographics, regionals, and inserts. Identifies any and all other services sold by the medium such as direct mail, reprints, e-mail, etc.
rate protection Allows an advertiser to continue receiving rates offered on a particular rate card number after that rate card number has expired.

RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company) In 1981-2, AT&T was split into seven regional holding companies and a long distance compnay, still called AT&T. The RBOCs (ree-boc or ar-boc) are NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Ameritech, Southwestern Bell, US West and PACTEL.

reader service card A card inserted into a magazine from which readers can circle numbers that correspond to stories or advertisements in order to obtain additional info. by mail on the stories or advertisement cited. (See Bingo Card, Circle Numbers)

Real Player A streaming audio format developed by Real Networks and the evolving version of this extremely popular utility. It is easy to download and considered by some to be one of the better sources of media for your PC. (See streaming).
read-only A disk, folder, or file containing data that can be read, but cannot be written to or deleted. Also referred to as locked or write-protected.

real-time The Net term for "live," as in "live-broadcast."

rebate A sum of money returned to a customer following purchase or payment for goods or services due to a promotion. (See Refund)

recruitment ad Small advertisement seeking candidates for specific job or management position.

regional ad Advertisements which only run in certain copies of a particular issue. Regionals are based on selected states, zip codes, or regions.

registration Quality of printing in which all colors print exactly where they should, preventing fuzzy or blurred photos in process-color printing.

remittance Funds sent from one to another, usually in payment for items purchased, services rendered, or value received.

removable media Disks that can be removed, as opposed to hard disks that are stationary. Some examples of removable media are floppy disks, disk cartridges (SyQuest,Bernoulli, and Zip Disks, for example), and CDs (compact Discs).

renewal 1) An order from a subscriber specifically requesting that the subscription continue. 2) A contract or order received from an agency or advertiser authorizing a new 12 month advertising contract.

reorganization A voluntary or court-ordered change in the capital structure of a corporation, (usually one in financial difficulties), where all the assets of the old corporation are transferred to a newly-formed corporation. The objective is to make a fair settlement with its creditors and permit the corporation to continue its business operation. (See Chapter 7)

rep An abbreviation of the term sales representative.

repair To remove a virus from a file and return the file to its original, unifected state.

reprints Sometimes clients, or other institutions require a large quantity of a particular article or an entire issue. The quantity needed exceeds our regular print order or has been requested after an issue has already been printed.

rerun An ad run previously in other issues. Usually the film for a rerun is already in-house.

reserve An amount of money set aside for accounting purposes to protect any depreciation or losses in asset values for a specific purpose.

resource fork The part of a file that contains information used by an application, such as menus, fonts, icons, and the executable code. Most viruses attach themselves to the resource fork of application files.
resource manager The portion of Macintosh system software through which an application accesses various resources, such as icons, fonts, and menus.

restart To start your computer again.

retroactive Effective as of a post date; having reference to a prior time.

revenue Income generated by a company from the sale of goods or services provided to its customers.

reverse To change blacks to whites, whites to blacks.

rich-media ads HTML or JavaScript banner ads that may offer multiple functions, such as pull- down menus or search fields.

RFP
Request for proposal. A charade in which several agencies audition for a baffled client. An RFP is an opportunity to see agencies at the most cartoonish -arriving in limousines, talking about neutrality and vision, and generally falling all over themselves to seem omnipotent, omniscient and just damn hip.

RL Slang for "Real-life."

Rob
Abbreviation for run of book. It also means to place the ad wherever it happens to fit. (See Run of Book, Run of Press, Run of Publication, ROP)

ROI
Return on investment. The big kahuna. The holy grail. The most-used-three-word phrase in any agency's lexicon, ROI is promised to clients in pitch meetings the same way people swear on their mothers' graves - with a hand over the heart and an earnest tilt of the head. Clearly, many people in interactive agencies didn't get along with their mothers.

ROM (Read Only Memory)
The memory that contains the basic instructions for the computer microprocessor and other hardware. Users can't change the information in ROM, and it remains intact when the computer is shut down.

Rop
Abbreviation for "run of publication" or "run of press". It also means to place the ad wherever it happens to fit. (See Run of Publication, Run of Press, Run of Book, ROB)

rotation
The sequence in which colors are applied in process-color printing. A standard rotation is yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.

router
A ubiquitous device that acts as a traffic cop to direct data traffic among different networks. Unlike bridges, routers have software that understands a wide number of protocols and can make more-complex decisions. For example, a router might choose the cheapest long-distance carrier for sending data between offices in different cities, or select alternative routes if one path is crowded or out of service. Routers are important to Internet's functioning.

run of book
Same as ROB or ROP. To place the ad wherever it happens to fit. (See ROB, ROP, Run of Press, Run of Publication)

run of press
Same as run of publication or ROP. To place the ad wherever it happens to fit. (Run of Publication, ROP, ROB, Run of Book)

run of publication
Same as run of press or ROP. To place the ad wherever it happens to fit. (See Run of Press, ROP, ROB, Run of Book)

running charge
The price charged by a list owner for names run or passed, but not used, by a specific mailer. When such a charge is made, it is usually made to cover extra processing costs. However, some list owners set the price without regard to actual cost.

running head
A headline or title running at the head of each page.