The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) says that while alcohol companies are spending less on radio ads, more ads for beer, wine and liquor are being broadcast during "youth-oriented" programs, the Associated Press reported Sept. 18.

A new CAMY report estimated that 36 percent of alcohol radio ads are placed on shows where per-capita youth audiences are higher than adult audiences.

"What (alcohol companies are) doing is more efficiently reaching kids. That's presumably a waste of their marketing dollars -- there is no good reason for them to be doing it," said CAMY executive director David Jernigan.

The Beer Institute replied that its members adhere to a standard of advertising on shows where underage listeners comprise no more than 30 percent of the audience. And Anheuser-Busch Vice President Carol Clark said, "Preventing underage drinking is about preventing youth access to alcohol, not about what a teen does or doesn't hear on the radio. If teens can't get alcohol, they can't drink it."

Jernigan said that the CAMY study found that 8 percent of ads were placed on programs with more than 30 percent youth listeners, but that the ads still reached a disproportionate number of youth because only 15 percent of the population is aged 12-20.

CAMY wants the industry standard amended to permit advertising on programs with no more than 15 percent underage listeners. Clark said that would "prevent the companies from advertising in media where there is substantial adult interest."