Simon Pitts, STV chief executive

The broadcaster said its national advertising revenue had plummeted by 23% and its regional performance had dropped by 18%.

STV’s total revenue dropped by 19% to £44.7m after a small (5%) increase in online sales. Studos revenue dropped by 17% reflecting the pause in filming in the second quarter of this year as the coronavirus lockdown restrictions came into effect.

However, Simon Pitts, STV’s chief executive, said the company had still made an operating profit of £2.5m in the first half of 2020 which he said was “real measure” of the broadcaster’s underlying performance.

He told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland that the first six months of this year had been a challenging period for everyone, but he said he was proud att the way STV had responded to the crisis.

He said: “We haven’t just survived this crisis so far - we’ve thrived in lots of ways while taking care of our people, our partners and our local communities along the way.

“We’ve actually seen record ratings for STV, up 25% on TV, up over 80% online and we have taken decisive action to mitigate the impact of COVID.”

He added: “Advertising trends are now starting to improve again, so the outlook is much more positive going into the autumn. We were a strong and successful business before this crisis and the steps we have taken so far are about making sure we stay that way.”

Looking ahead, Mr Pitts wrote in the half year results announcement: “The outlook is much more positive in H2, with advertising trends improving materially in July and August, and a strong schedule to look forward to on TV and online including the return of a full complement of weekly soap episodes from later this month.”

The broadcaster has utilised the UK Government’s furlough scheme however Mr Pitts said that there were “no plans for job cuts” at STV as the scheme comes to an end in October.