Talksport revenue increase helps boost profits at UTV

The radio division in Great Britain saw revenue increase from £23.7m in 2007 to £25m in 2008, despite a 3% fall in the UK radio market overall.

Revenues at flagship station Talksport rose by 18% to £12.1m, up from £10.2m in the January to June 2007 period, although local radio income dropped 5% to £12.9m. Operating profits in the GB radio division were up by 15% to £5.4m.

Radio revenue in Ireland was up by 47% to £11.4m, with like-for-like revenue growth of 24%, to £9.6m. New Belfast radio station, U105, saw its losses fall by £100,000 to £300,000, while losses at the company's Edinburgh station, Talk 107, also fell by a third to £600,000, in line with UTV's plan to break even by the end of 2009.

An overview of UTV in its entirety showed group turnover of £62m in the first half of 2008, up 8% year on year, with pre-tax profits up 12% to £10.4m.

As well as radio in the UK and Ireland, UTV runs an arm of the ITV television network in Northern Ireland and has just strengthened its position in the digital domain with the acquisition of Tibus, an Irish website development company.

This article was first published on Media Week