• by Wayne Friedman , July 29, 2010

Big advertising results from its World Cup coverage helped push Univision Communication to a second-quarter profit.

Net profit was at $35.3 million versus a $27.7 million loss in the second-quarter 2009. Overall revenue gained 23% to $639.8 million from the second quarter of 2009.

The big Spanish-language media company grabbed around $73.6 million in incremental revenue during the second quarter and $74.8 million over the first half for its wall-to-wall television soccer coverage in June.

"We have made significant strides both compared to last year and the previous quarter," said Joe Uva, president/CEO of Univision. "In the second quarter, the 2010 FIFA World Cup was without a doubt a tremendous highlight for us. And it was our most successful World Cup to date... We reached all-time record numbers in viewership and visits to our interactive properties."

In fact, Univision's television business has had strong results in the summer. So far -- June 14 to July 25 -- Univision has been the No. 1 network in broadcast prime among young adults 18-34 (1,083,000). Univision was also strong among older viewers, taking third place to date for adults 18-49 (1,844,000), bettering CBS, NBC and CW.

Univision's Internet business grew 37% in combined visits to its platforms. Page impressions grew 15% and ad impressions climbed 6%. Revenue grew to $19.8 million from $10 million in the second quarter last year.

On Tuesday, Univision Communications agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations against "payola" or pay-for-play charges that the company's radio stations and its employees accepted secret cash payments to give more airplay to artists with a former Univision recording label.

Radio revenue declined to $89.9 million from $95.1 million in the comparative second-quarter period of 2009.