Media scheduling refers to the decision taken by media planner regarding – timing of an advertisement, continuity of and advertisement and the size of an advertisement to be played. Once a media planner decides media mix i.e. which all media vehicles will be used to communicate advertising messages to the target audience, media scheduling starts. Thus, in simple words, media scheduling deals with 2 main things – Number of advertising giving to a selected media vehicle and frequency of the ads.
Strategies/Methods of media scheduling
1.  Continuous scheduling
Under this strategy, an advertisement runs throughout the year with an equal amount of weight each month. This strategy should be used if a particular product category is sold thought the year. No external factors are considered such as seasons, events, etc. These advertisements are in the form of reminders so that the target audience recall these brands at the time of the purchase.
Example: Shampoo’s advertisement comes throughout the year
2.  Flighting advertisement
This is when an advertisement runs for some period and then there is a gap, this means advertisers shows a heavy advertisement for a specific period of time and no advertisement on other time of the year. A business should use this strategy in case of seasonal products. Running heavy advertisement in the peak purchase period results in immediate brand awareness and this strategy also helps to fight competition.
Example: Air conditioner ads during summer
3.  Pulsing advertisement
 In this strategy, advertisers run ads throughout the year but for a specific period, there will be more advertisements as compared to other times of the year. Pulsing advertisement is a mix of both – Continuous and flighting advertising strategies. In strategy, the pulse means high-level advertising during a certain period. Pulse can occur at the time of product/brand launch to increase awareness.
Example: Launch of TATA NANO
Factors Influencing Media Scheduling
1. Type of the product
Advertisers must consider if the product category is consumed/used throughout the year or the product/brand used is seasonal. By making this decision advertiser will understand which media scheduling strategy works the best for the brand.
Example: Coolers and air conditioners have more demand during summer thus more advertisements are shown during summer.
2. Introduction of the product
If there is a new product in the market then advertisers have to play more advertisements at the time of launch to aware, educate, and persuade customers. The frequency of the advertisement should be high at the start, once the product or the brand is popular in the market, advertisers can decrease the frequency of a particular advertisement.
3. Type of audience
It is very important for advertisers to understand what type of media the target group is consuming. Advertisers have to keep target media in mind and understand their likes, dislikes, utility, and preferences. Proper demographic, psychographic, and behavioural research has to take place for understanding different consumer profile. Once the target market is understood media mix and scheduling strategy take place.
4. Competitors scheduling strategy
Advertisers must analyse competitors' scheduling strategy before deciding scheduling strategies so that our product is also able to compete with that of competitors.
5. Estimation of advertising budgets
The selection of media highly depends on the advertising budget. If budget is less than you cannot invest money in TV or Print at this stage it is ideal to spend more on running digital campaigns, at the same time if the budget is higher than advertisers can place the advertisement on television or print if it is effectively reaching the target audience.