Loop length & ad slots: the SOV model

A salon screen doesn’t sell impressions one at a time — it sells slots in a loop. How many slots, and what each is worth, comes from two numbers: the loop length and the spot length. This data study works the share-of-voice math, shows how it sets ad capacity and pricing, and connects it to the one thing salon owners care about — ad load.

The core math

DOOH inventory is built from a loop — a fixed sequence of spots that repeats. The capacity math is mechanical (Broadsign — primary):

slots per loop = loop length ÷ spot length

A 60-second loop with 10-second spots has 6 slots. A 90-second loop with 15-second spots has 6 slots too; a 120-second loop with 10-second spots has 12. The loop and spot lengths together define how many advertisers can share a screen and how often each appears.

Share of voice then expresses an advertiser’s portion as plays per loop (PPL): 50% SOV of a 6-slot loop is 3 plays per loop; 100% SOV (a takeover) is all 6. And price follows directly — PPL × the screen’s rate-card value — summed across the screens in a buy. A worked example: 50% SOV (3 PPL) across a premium screen at $200 and a secondary at $100 = 3×$200 + 3×$100 = $900 (Broadsign — primary).

A worked capacity model

Putting it together, here’s how loop and spot length set a screen’s sellable capacity (illustrative, using the mechanical math):

Loop length	Spot length	Slots/loop	At 25% SOV (PPL)	Advertisers at 25% each
60 s	10 s	6	1.5	up to ~4
60 s	15 s	4	1	up to ~4
90 s	10 s	9	~2.25	up to ~4
120 s	10 s	12	3	up to ~4

The pattern: longer loops and shorter spots create more slots, which lets you sell to more advertisers (each at a lower SOV) or give a single advertiser higher frequency. Shorter loops concentrate exposure — fewer advertisers, more often. There’s no universal “right” loop; it’s a deliberate trade between advertiser count, frequency and ad load.

Why the loop is a pricing lever

The loop structure is where SOV-based packaging lives, and it’s what lets a salon network serve small advertisers. A rigid few-slot loop forces big, expensive buys; a longer loop with SOV proration lets you sell fractional, lower-minimum entry — several small local or endemic advertisers sharing the same screen at a lower share each. That modularity is the difference between inventory a small beauty advertiser can afford and one they can’t. The loop, in other words, isn’t just a technical setting — it’s the instrument that sets your minimum viable deal size.

The loop also sets ad load

For the venue host, the loop math is also the ad-load dial — the share of screen time that’s paid ads versus the salon’s own content (promotions, styling inspiration, wait-time entertainment). A loop that’s 100% paid ads reads as a relentless commercial reel; a loop that mixes house content keeps the screen feeling like part of the salon. Because a client sits through the loop many times during a long appointment, repetition is the salon-specific risk — and the loop length and ad-load split are exactly the levers that control it. So the operator setting the loop is simultaneously setting capacity, pricing and client experience — they’re the same number viewed three ways. (The experience side is in Will ad screens annoy my clients?.)

The takeaway

A salon screen’s sellable capacity is loop length ÷ spot length, its pricing is plays-per-loop × rate-card value, and its client experience is the ad-load split of that same loop. Longer loops with shorter spots fit more advertisers at lower SOV (good for small local buyers); shorter loops concentrate exposure. The loop isn’t a back-end setting — it’s the single number that sets how many advertisers you can sell, at what minimum, and how the screen feels to a client sitting through it. Set it deliberately.