TF1, France's leading TV channel, has announced a 53% jump in first-half profits to $144m.

The company cited a bullish advertising market and tightly controlled programming costs. A 39% rise in revenues stemmed from its diversification activities, notably cable and satellite sales.

First-half revenues rose 23.4% to $1.2 billion, compared to $798m during the same period last year. Advertising sales grew 18.11% to $707m, while sales from digital satellite platform TPS, in which TF1 owns a 25% stake, rose 38% to $40m.

TF1 also announced the acquisition of a 22.5% stake in Switzerland-based company VisioWave SA, a specialist in digital technologies including Internet video streaming on future broadband networks. The purchase comes as TF1 is stepping up Internet-related activities and is launching its own ISP in December.