UTV MEDIA’S RADIO holdings in the Republic were not exactly the star performer of the group’s 2011 results published this week, with operating profits down 8 per cent and revenues sliding 4 per cent. But this was still a result that “significantly outperformed the Irish radio market”, observed its interim chairman Helen Kirkpatrick, who attributed the relative success to “the ongoing attractiveness” of its Urban Access advertising package.

This, she said, provided “a national advertising capability to major agencies and helped to offset much of the downturn”.

So why is Urban Access doing the business for UTV in a crowded – some say overcrowded – radio market? Essentially, it’s a combination of owning the right assets and charging the right prices. Individually, the group’s stations in each urban area are “very strong” based on “listened yesterday” Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures, says Ruth Ní Fhloinn, account director at the media agency MEC.

In Limerick and Galway, where UTV sells advertising for market leaders Limerick Live 95FM and Galway Bay FM, the only station that comes close on listenership is RTÉ Radio One, she notes.

The Cork station C103 and its city counterpart Cork 96FM, plus LMFM in Louth-Meath, also outperform. Radio One “remains steadfast” in Dublin for both adults as a whole and the ABC1 social class, Ní Fhloinn adds, but UTV’s Q102 and FM104 stations are stronger among younger age groups. Meanwhile, Beat 102-103, based in the southeast, “reigns supreme” among 15- to 34-year-olds.

In total, Radio One reaches more people, at 224,000 versus a combined reach of 165,000 for UTV’s stations. But based on average daytime rate cards, the cost-per-thousand for advertising on Radio One is €5.23 versus €5.09 at UTV, says Ní Fhloinn.

“Overall, taking aside that it’s not completely a national package, [Urban Access] is a much stronger alternative in most of its franchise areas.”

* This article was amended on March 22nd, 2011 to correct  a factual error.