Extreme Reach delivery specs
Extreme Reach is three destinations, not one, and they contradict each other on purpose. A master built for one will be rejected by another, so all three are here side by side.
Extreme Reach — Digital
| Requirement | What they publish |
|---|---|
| Container | .mov, .mp4 (prefers .mov) |
| Video codec | ProRes (preferred), H.264 |
| Video bitrate | H.264 at least 20 Mbps |
| Encoder profile | H.264 / AVC |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 (preferred), 1280x720 |
| Scan and pixels | progressive only, square pixels |
| Chroma | 4:2:2 preferred, 4:2:0 accepted |
| Frame rate | 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 59.94 (constant only) |
| Audio codec | PCM, AAC (prefers PCM) |
| Audio bitrate | at least 224 kbps |
| Sample rate | 48 kHz |
| Bit depth | 16-bit, 24-bit |
| Channels | 2 |
| Loudness | -24 LKFS ±2 LU |
| True peak | no higher than -2 dBTP, -6 recommended |
| Duration | frame accurate |
| Slate | not required; one that is included must follow the TV layout (5s slate, 2s black, then the ad) |
| Rejected | letterbox or pillarbox, black at head or tail |
| Text safe area | within 93% |
| File size | up to 5 GB |
| File name | the Ad Code: letters and numbers only, 12 characters or fewer, HD (16:9) names end in H |
Verified against the live page. XR auto-normalizes non-conforming loudness to -24 LKFS, so a loudness miss warns rather than fails. Safe area (SMPTE ST 2046-1): the page states 90% as the title-safe area for a linear feed and says XR recommends keeping all pertinent content within 93% for digital, with digital assets allowed up to 100% without rejection. Text past 93% therefore warns and nothing here fails; measured on burned-in text that holds still for a second or more.
Extreme Reach — Social
| Requirement | What they publish |
|---|---|
| Container | .mov, .mp4 |
| Video codec | ProRes (preferred), H.264 |
| Video bitrate | H.264 at least 8 Mbps |
| Resolution | 1920x1080, 1080x1080, 1080x1350, 1080x1920 |
| Scan and pixels | progressive only, square pixels |
| Frame rate | 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30 (constant only) |
| Audio codec | PCM, AAC |
| Audio bitrate | at least 128 kbps |
| Sample rate | 48 kHz |
| Bit depth | 16-bit, 24-bit |
| Channels | 2 |
| Loudness | -24 LKFS ±2 LU |
| True peak | no higher than -2 dBTP, -6 recommended |
| Slate | not required; one that is included must follow the TV layout (5s slate, 2s black, then the ad) |
| Rejected | black at head or tail |
| Text safe area | within 93% |
| File size | up to 5 GB |
Verified against the live page. Landscape 16:9, square 1:1, vertical 4:5 and 9:16. Safe area (SMPTE ST 2046-1): the page states 90% as the title-safe area for a linear feed and says XR recommends keeping all pertinent content within 93% for digital, with digital assets allowed up to 100% without rejection. Text past 93% therefore warns and nothing here fails; measured on burned-in text that holds still for a second or more.
Extreme Reach — Broadcast
| Requirement | What they publish |
|---|---|
| Container | .mxf, .mov, .mp4 (prefers .mxf) |
| Video codec | MPEG-2 (preferred), ProRes, H.264 |
| Video bitrate | MPEG-2 at least 45 Mbps; H.264 at least 20 Mbps |
| Encoder profile | XDCAM HD 422 at 50 Mbps, Long GOP, 4:2:2@High |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 (preferred), 1280x720 |
| Scan and pixels | progressive only, interlaced accepted at 29.97, square pixels |
| Chroma | 4:2:2 preferred, 4:2:0 accepted |
| Frame rate | 23.98, 29.97, 59.94 (constant only) |
| Audio codec | PCM, AAC (prefers PCM) |
| Audio bitrate | at least 224 kbps |
| Sample rate | 48 kHz |
| Bit depth | 16-bit, 24-bit |
| Channels | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 |
| Loudness | -24 LKFS ±2 LU |
| True peak | no higher than -2 dBTP, -6 recommended |
| Slate | 5s slate, 2s black, silent |
| Layout | a 5-second slate, 2 seconds of black, then the ad |
| Slate must show | Ad-ID, Advertiser, Title, Duration |
| 2-pop | allowed, no louder than -20 dBFS |
| Tail fade | up to 10 frames |
| Text safe area | within 90%, rejected past 93% |
Extreme Reach's published North America broadcast spec, read from their help center. ER runs this as a separate delivery path from digital ad serving: broadcast masters carry the slate, digital uploads must not. Content layout is a 5-second slate, 2 seconds of black, then the ad; active audio/video starts on frame 168 at 23.98 or frame 210 at 29.97, frame zero counted. The 2-pop allowance and its -20 dBFS ceiling come from ER's Performance Marketing page (5825044013716), which covers the same slated TV path and states it outright; the broadcast page says only that slates must be mute and does not mention a pop. Peter confirmed with ER that a pop is accepted. That page also specifies a LONG-FORM layout for content over 5 minutes (8-second slate, first frame 240 at 23.976 / 300 at 29.97, and 2 frames of black at the tail) which this profile does not model, so a long-form master would be graded against the short-form layout here. The alternatives table accepts 1080/29.97 (interlaced upper-field-first or progressive) and 1280x720/59.94p; the schema cannot couple rate to frame size, so a 1080p59.94 file would wrongly pass frame rate here. The page states that non-conforming loudness is automatically normalized to -24 LKFS with no impact on dynamic range, so a loudness miss warns rather than fails; it separately requires true peak below -2 dBTP and recommends -6 to avoid rejections at TV and digital destinations. Production West publish no spec sheet and are a dub-and-delivery house; these rules are a reasonable stand-in for them, but confirm before relying on it. A 2-pop above the -20 dBFS ceiling is reported and never failed: ER publish the number (Performance Marketing page) and publish nothing about what happens above it, their broadcast page forbids slate audio outright, and the level read here is a sample peak against their true-peak language. The advice says they might reject it. Title safety is SMPTE ST 2046-1: the page puts the safe title area at 90% of the production aperture, says graphics and text should sit inside it, and states that assets with elements outside 93% (safe action) will be rejected. So text past 90% warns and past 93% fails, measured on burned-in text that holds still for a second or more; the slate is excluded.
The slate is required and forbidden, depending which door you use
Broadcast masters must carry a 5-second slate. Digital and social uploads must not carry one at all. This is the single most common way a correct file gets rejected: it was cut for the wrong ER path, not built wrong.
ER's own pages disagree about slate audio
The broadcast page says slates must be mute, full stop — which makes a perfectly ordinary 2-pop look like a defect. Their Performance Marketing page, covering the same slated TV path, says outright that a 2-pop at the end of the slate is acceptable so long as it does not exceed −20 dBFS.
Both statements are published, and neither page mentions the other. Anything grading this path is choosing between them, and the more permissive one is the one with an actual number attached — so a hot pop is worth a warning rather than a rejection.
Safe area is two thresholds, not one
For broadcast, ER put graphics and text inside 90% of width and height, and say outright that assets with elements outside 93% will be rejected. So past 90% is a warning and past 93% is a failure. Digital is looser: 90% is the linear-feed title-safe area, 93% is recommended, and digital assets are allowed out to 100% for creative placement without rejection.
Where these numbers come from
Every value above was read off the platform's own published page or document and carries the date it was read. Nothing here is inferred, and where a platform publishes no rule this page says so rather than filling the gap.
- Extreme Reach — Digital, read 4 September 2026
- Extreme Reach — Social, read 4 September 2026
- Extreme Reach — Broadcast, read 4 September 2026
Specs move. If you are reading this long after those dates, check the source before trusting a number.
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