Grocery-Sector Radio Ad Spending Falls Slightly in 2008

Grocery and convenience stores, radio's sixth-largest local and national spending category in 2008, decreased their radio advertising by 3 percent compared with 2007, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau's Annual Radio Revenue Trend Report.

Overall sales dropped to $992.5 million in 2008, but an increase in the last quarter of the year helped boost the numbers. The figures accounted for the local, national, network and off-air radio sectors. The West region accounted for 43 percent of the spending in this category.

Safeway remains grocery's largest radio ad buyer, boosting ad sales in the last quarter of 2008 by 25 percent to end the year up 8 percent over the previous year. Supervalu's trend of regional acquisitions contributed to the company's five-fold increase over 2007.