As the mechanical crisis unfolded the last two weeks, Toyota aired more commercials on radio, not less.  The carmaker and its dealers aired 8,478 radio spots last week according to Media Monitors.

Last week’s ad volume was an 86% jump in ad volume from the prior week when it ran 4,569 spots — and a small 12% drop from two weeks ago.  In other words, the recall doesn’t appear to have impacted the ebb and flow of one of radio’s biggest advertisers.  Toyota’s spots have instead focused on brands that haven’t been affected by mechanical problems.  That may change as the automaker has begun airing television spots addressing safety concerns head-on.

Meanwhile, ABC-TV affiliates in five southeastern states are paying the price for what 173 Toyota dealers believe has been “excessive” coverage of their brands problems by ABC News.  Southeast Toyota has told media buyers to pull their ads from the affiliates and shift them to other stations in the market.