UTV Media has said that its Irish radio division has “significantly” outperform- ed the market so far this year, despite revenues showing a 6% annualised decline.

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UTV has reported record annual profits of £23.3m (almost €28m), despite taking a significant impairment hit in its Irish division.

RTÉ Radio 1 and 2FM continue to dominate the airwaves as figures show the national broadcaster remains the leader in the battle for the nation’s ears.

SOME of the best-known names in Irish radio are gearing up for a major battle of the airwaves this autumn as Ryan Tubridy aims to boost flagging audiences for 2FM following the death of the station’s flagship presenter, Gerry Ryan, earlier this year.

UTV MEDIA has seen a further 7% fall in advertising revenue from its Irish radio operations since the beginning of this year, following a 16% fall for the whole of 2009.

ADVERTISING revenue at UTV’s Irish radio operations fell by 16% last year, but the group’s business here maintained overall annual revenue levels at £24.8 million (€27.5m).

RTÉ maintained its dominance of the national airwaves during 2009 according to the latest Joint National Listenership Research results, although its pop station 2FM continues to lose audiences.

THE Republic-based radio portfolio of UTV Media – the Belfast-based broadcast media group – has continued to be one of the best performing divisions of the group into 2009, just as it was last year.

UTV Media chief executive John McCann yesterday said he was pleased with the Belfast-based broadcasting group’s static performance for last year, given the downturn in the advertising market and wider economy.

SHOPPING. It was once such a simple and pleasant pastime — peruse, choose, pay.

The Government must ban radio advertisers ’speed-reading’ the terms and conditions of products or services, an Oireachtas committee said today.

A Dublin radio station’s crusade to supersize small print in consumer documents comes to Leinster House this week.

MEDIA group Ulster Television has recorded an 11% rise in profits helped by strong gains from its radio division.

RADIO listenership figures for RTÉ Radio 1 remain unchanged at 26% while RTÉ 2FM recorded a two percentage point drop, according to the latest JNLR/TNS figures.

UTV has been awarded a new FM radio licence for Belfast city and its surrounding area.

ULSTER TELEVISION’S (UTV) profits shot up by nearly 50% last year despite flat operating earnings from its radio stations.

Broadcaster Ulster TV said today an advertising upturn had helped it to boost annual profits by 46% to £13.9m (€20.2m).

A SURGE in television advertising has helped push up first-half profits at Ulster Television to £6.2 million (€9.1m).

MORE people are switching off from the State broadcaster and tuning in to local and regional radio stations, new listenership figures show.

ULSTER Television has entered the fray for the latest radio licence to become available in Dublin.

ULSTER TELEVISION saw turnover increase by 14% to £54 million (€79 million) last year. However, profits fell by £0.3 million to £13.6 million as the Belfast-based broadcaster faced higher interest charges and programming costs.