Nippon Television Network Corp., rocked by a viewer ratings scandal, on Thursday reported double-digit profit falls for the half year to Sept. 30 amid slumping ad revenue and a lack of big events matching last year's World Cup soccer finals.

NTV said its group net profit for the six months fell 14.1 percent to 9.33 billion yen, or 378.98 yen per share, while its pretax and operating profits slid 19.4 percent to 18.62 billion yen and 21.7 percent to 18.13 billion yen. Group revenue dropped 5.6 percent to 160.88 billion yen.

The major commercial TV network's mainline broadcasting business saw revenue decline 4.6 percent to 141.12 billion yen.

The company blamed the poor performance on the prolonged slump in the ad market and the absence of revenue-boosting content comparable with the World Cup games it aired during the tournament cohosted by Japan and South Korea from May 31 to June 30, 2002.

NTV said revenue also went down for some of its regular programs, including games hosted by the Yomiuri Giants, the pro baseball team in the Yomiuri media conglomerate to which NTV also belongs.

The interim dividend will be kept at 25 yen per share.

In its full-year outlook, NTV expects group net profit to fall to 10.50 billion yen from the previous year's 20.30 billion yen on projected revenue of 325.70 billion yen, down from 336.30 billion yen.

The first-half earnings report came two days after NTV announced punitive measures for officials in connection with a ratings scandal that came to light last month.