UTV Media cautious despite revenue boost

TalkSport owner UTV Media has said that it remains "cautious" about the outlook for 2011, despite the company reporting a 3% revenue rise in the first four months of the year.

UTV, which is also the ITV licence holder in Northern Ireland, said that revenue at its Radio GB division grew 4% year-on-year in the four months to April 30, while earnings at its TV division were up 8%.

However, the company echoed a recent warning from ITV that the ad market would be down in May and June in comparison to 2010, when broadcasters benefited from the World Cup effect.

UTV expects TV revenue to be up 2% year-on-year in May, but down by 8% in June. Radio revenues are expected to be down 9% in both May and June on last year.

The company gave a "cautious" outlook for the rest of 2011, but said that it remains "on track to meet market expectations for the year".

In a statement, UTV said: "In the current environment of economic uncertainty airtime bookings offer limited forward visibility and we therefore remain cautious about the remainder of the year.

"Nonetheless our television and radio divisions have had a good start to the year, outperforming in their respective markets and we are currently on track to meet market expectations for the year."

TalkSport scooped 'UK Radio Station of the Year' at last week's Sony Radio Academy Awards and achieved a record weekly audience of 3.25m listeners in the first quarter of 2011.

Yesterday, Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon defended the BBC station following criticism from TalkSport about its perceived lack of serious news and minority sports coverage.