TalkSPORT Cup bonus for Wireless

THE World Cup underpinned a maiden underlying profit in June for radio station owner The Wireless Group, enabling the company led by Kelvin MacKenzie to buck the industry's trends.

MacKenzie said revenues at the group's talkSPORT station were up 11% in July and were expected to be at least 11% ahead in August. The strong figures for June enabled its revenues to rise 6.7% to £6m in the six months to 30 June compared with a 3% drop in the industry's advertising revenue.

MacKenzie, a former editor of The Sun, said he had 'Beckham and the boys' to thank for a second quarter in which revenues soared almost 30%. Market reach rose 8% in the three months to 2.4m listeners.

The Wireless Group's operating loss for the half was cut from £3.9m to £1.1m before interest, depreciation and digital costs. Total advertising revenue was up 7.6% on a like-for-like basis.