National talk radio station TalkSport is set to report a 12 per cent revenue rise in the first quarter – and a 25 per cent rise in April as the football World Cup nears.
Parent company UTV Media said the tournament in Brazil "will provide a welcome boost to radio revenues in the first half of this year".
TalkSport, which has three million listeners a week according to Rajar, has non-exclusive radio rights to the Fifa World Cup in the early summer.
The station has also renewed exclusive national audio broadcasting rights for Premier League packages to 2016 and continues to expand internationally with coverage of other sporting leagues.
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In a market update this morning, UTV Media said group revenue fell four per cent last year to £107.8m and profits were down 14 per cent to £20.1m.
"Weak demand in the UK radio advertising market was compounded by the absence of a major sporting event in TalkSport's calendar," the company said.
UTV owns the Channel 3 television broadcasting licence for Northern Ireland, which Ofcom has now extended for a 10-year period to expire in December 2024.
The group is also launching a television channel in the Republic of Ireland, using content from ITV.
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UTV chairman Richard Huntingford said: "I am happy to report a year of significant progress. We now have a clear strategic focus to the group with exciting growth platforms for the future."
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