Ulster Television's chairman John McGuckian says the recent advertising downturn has been the worst in living memory.
But he told shareholders today that while the slump continued into 2002, UTV outperformed the ITV channels with a 2% drop in the first quarter. Overall ITV revenues were down 13%.
Mr McGuckian says that the second quarter is experiencing some improvement, helped by the stimulus of the World Cup, but warns that it is unclear whether or not this improvement can be sustained.
UTV's Cork radio business County Media saw a modest reduction in advertising revenue in the first half.
