ASCAP census and sample surveys: why an airing can pay $0
By Marc Aaron Jacobs · Updated
ASCAP pays TV from its own surveys. On a census survey it counts every performance. On a sample survey it records some days and times and scales them up to stand for the rest. An airing on a sampled channel is paid only if it falls inside the sample, so a cue that really aired, with a correct cue sheet on file, can pay $0.
Before you ask ASCAP about a missing airing, find out which kind of survey covered that channel and period. If it was sampled, the question to ask is whether the airing was in the sample, not why it was not paid.
Census and sample, in ASCAP's words
ASCAP says it runs a census, a complete count, whenever the cost of collecting the data is a low enough share of what the medium pays in licence fees. Where that is impractical, it runs a sample designed to be a statistically accurate picture of the medium, and the more a licensee pays ASCAP, the more often it is sampled.
ASCAP's survey page, read on 7 November 2026, put TV into the two groups like this:
| Medium | Census (every performance) | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Network TV | ABC, NBC and CBS: all performances. Fox and CW: programs, commercials and promos. Univision: programs and promos. | All other uses. |
| Local TV | Syndicated programs and movies, and some commercials and locally produced programs. | All other programs, and music in other commercials and promos. |
| Cable TV | General entertainment networks, premium movie services and selected sports services, series and movies on MTV and VH1, and some commercials. | All other programs and uses on those services, and all uses on other licensed cable services. |
The page does not say which cable networks count as general entertainment, so this guide does not list any. ASCAP publishes the days and times it samples commercials, promos and public service announcements on cable each quarter, on its cable sample survey dates page. The full chart is on ASCAP's survey page, and the rules behind it are in ASCAP's Survey and Distribution System Rules & Policies.
Why a confirmed airing can pay $0
On a sampled channel, ASCAP pays the performances it recorded, weighted up to stand for the hours it did not. A cue that aired outside the recorded days and times earns nothing on its own, even if a monitoring service caught it and the cue sheet is right. A cue that did land in the sample can be paid as though it stood for many airings.
That makes ASCAP income on sampled channels uneven: nothing for a cue for several quarters, then a large line. It is not an error on the statement, and nothing on the statement tells you which kind of survey a line came from.
Composers on the Music Library Report forum have reported airings on cable channels that ASCAP did not pay, and one shared ASCAP's reply to a claim: "there were no sampled/surveyed performances of your works." These are composers' reports, not ASCAP's figures.
How to ask ASCAP
- •Wait for the statement. ASCAP pays writers about three quarters after the airing and publishers about two. See when each society pays.
- •Check the cue sheet. ASCAP will ask which cue sheet the performance is on, so find out what it has on file for the episode first. See how to download your cue sheets.
- •Ask about the survey. ASCAP does not publish program sample dates, so ask whether the channel and period were surveyed.
- •Then ask what ASCAP has on file. ASCAP's cable survey page says to contact Global Member Services at 1-800-95-ASCAP, or send a message through Member Access, to submit performance information for those networks and periods.
Frame it as a question. Ask whether the performance was surveyed and what ASCAP holds for the episode, rather than presenting a detection and a figure. The royalty inquiry guide has the full checklist. Keep it with ASCAP: the library did not run the survey.
How BMI differs
BMI's Royalty Policy Manual describes TV differently. BMI gets performance information from its licensees, Gracenote or other providers, matches it to cue sheets, and calculates each performance using Nielsen audience data for the program. It also says that where performance data for a source is missing or incomplete, it may pay that source's fees against performances from sources with enough data.
Neither approach pays everything that airs, and they fail in different places. For a side by side view, see ASCAP or BMI for TV composers.
ONTRK checks airings you already have against your ASCAP statements today, and drafts a letter asking ASCAP what it has on file, not a claim. Its own TV detection, monitored by BMAT on 50 channels in the US, UK, Europe and Australia, opens in November.
Common questions
What is the difference between an ASCAP census and sample survey?
A census counts every performance in a medium. A sample records some days and times and weights them up to represent the rest, so only the performances inside the sample are paid.
Why did my TV airing pay nothing from ASCAP?
If the channel was on a sample survey and the airing fell outside the sampled days and times, it earns nothing on its own, even with a correct cue sheet. Check the cue sheet, then ask whether the channel and period were surveyed.
Which channels are on an ASCAP census?
ASCAP's survey page lists the groups: network TV (all uses on ABC, NBC and CBS; programs on Fox, CW and Univision), general entertainment cable networks, premium movie services and selected sports services. It does not name each cable network, so ask ASCAP about yours.
Will ASCAP pay on monitoring data?
ASCAP pays from its own survey and asks which cue sheet a performance is on. Ask what it has on file for the episode rather than presenting a detection and a figure.
Does BMI use a sample for TV?
BMI's manual describes matching performance information from licensees, Gracenote and other providers to cue sheets. Where a source's data is missing, it may pay that source's fees against other sources' performances.
Related
- ASCAP or BMI for TV composers: how each one pays: how each counts TV, the theme bonus, foreign income, and what happens to your cues if you switch.
- How to ask ASCAP, BMI or SESAC about a missing royalty: what to include, and why each society needs a different letter.
- How to read your ASCAP royalty statement: domestic and international exports, column by column.
- When do ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, PRS, SOCAN and GEMA pay?: each society's payment months, and which quarter of airings each payment covers.
Who makes this
ONTRK is built by Marc Aaron Jacobs, a composer who runs the libraries Tonal Chaos and Tonal Chaos Trailers, and who built DropCue. Questions go to hello@ontrk.app and reach him directly.
Read a statement you already have, free.
No account, nothing uploaded, about a minute. The file is read in your browser.
Read a statement free →