Radio Daze: Alcohol Ads Tune in Underage Youth.

Through the years and every passing fad, radio has continued to be a basic fact of life for youth in the United States. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth commissioned Virtual Media Resources (VMR) to audit alcohol radio advertising in 2001 and 2002 and to conduct a case study of alcohol radio advertising in December 2002 and January 2003 to validate the audit findings. In analyzing the results of the audit and case study, the Center finds that the alcohol industry routinely overexposed youth to its radio advertising by placing the ads when and where youth were more likely than adults to hear them. In analyzing the sample from 2001-2002, the Center specifically finds: youth heard more radio ads for beer, "malternatives" and distilled spirits; youth heard substantially less radio advertising for wine; alcohol ads were placed on stations with "youth" formats; alcohol ads were aired when youth listen most; overexposure by brand was extensive; and youth in African-American and Hispanic communities were overexposed. Five appendixes contain research methodology and data tables. (GCP)