Describing October radio ad sales as a "struggling" comparison to October 2004, the Radio Advertising Bureau reported the medium's ad spending fell 7 percent for the month. The tough comparison is due
to the fact that October 2004 was buoyed by record political ad spending, and the RAB said radio's October 2005 down turn can be traced to specific markets in 2004's political battleground states.
National ad sales took the biggest hit, falling 19 percent from October 2004. Local sales fared better, dipping only 2 percent. October's results drag radio's year-to-date performance down to zero
growth for the first ten months of 2005. -- Joe Mandese