STV has reported a 22% year-on-year rise in operating profit to £11.9m, while revenue grew by 3% to £62.1m during the same period.
The Scottish media group's half-year results to 30 June also showed an operating margin of 19%, which was broadly back to pre-Covid levels.
STV-controlled advertising continued to deliver revenue growth, with video on-demand (VOD) advertising on the STV Player up 16% and regional advertising up 11%.
STV Studios revenue was also up 16%, reflecting ongoing commissioning momentum, according to the latest financial statement.
The company posted net debt of £6.6m, up £6.9m since December 2021 due to expected short term funding of increased productions activity.
STV is now the most watched peak time TV channel in Scotland for the fourth year in succession, with a share of 22.2%.
The results also stated that the average Scot spends more than six times longer watching broadcast content each day than on-demand services such as Netflix, with Scotpulse research suggesting that 64% of Scots say they either already have, or intend to, cancel paid-for streaming services.
The STV Player grew users and ad impressions during the first half of 2022, although total online streams and viewing were down 13% and 11% respectively - reflecting strong 2021 comparators including Covid lockdowns and European Championship football.
Within the Studios division, there have been 25 new commissions so far this year, with nine returning series, putting it track to exceed targets and "contribute materially" to STV’s planned diversification.
STV Player content continues to scale to more than 5,500 hours, with 10 new content deals so far in 2022, including All3Media, Banijay and EOne.
Within Scottish advertising, larger clients have returned, with a balance returning between businesses and government spend towards pre-pandemic trends.
The results noted that the "shape of advertising performance across the year so far is broadly as expected, although TV advertising not immune from ongoing macro uncertainty".
Stronger commercial and viewing performance is expected in the fourth quarter, driven by the World Cup.
STV is still on track to hit or exceed three-year growth targets by the end of 2023, which plan to double digital viewing, users and revenue - to £20m - along with quadrupling Studios revenue - to £40m - and achieve at least 50% of operating profit from outside traditional broadcasting.
The board has proposed an interim dividend of 3.9p per share, up 5% on 2021.
Chief executive Simon Pitts said: “Our strategy of creating a more diversified business through a relentless focus on production growth, digital streaming and local advertising continues to deliver, with STV Studios revenue up 16%, VOD advertising on STV Player up 16% and regional advertising up 11%.
“Our audience position is strong on TV and online, with STV’s daily, weekly, and monthly reach in H1 higher than all subscription streaming services combined.
“The advertising market is clearly not going to be immune from the ongoing economic uncertainty, with total advertising up 4% in H1 and forecast to be slightly down for the nine months to September, but we are expecting a stronger fourth quarter, boosted by the first ever winter football World Cup.“
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