STV Group has signalled it is benefiting from improving market conditions with its advertising revenues on course to be at least 5% up year-on-year.

The media company said national advertising, which takes in the whole UK market, was 6% ahead for the period to the end of the third quarter of the year with regional airtime revenue up 4%.

It predicted by the end of November this year both segments would be running at 5% greater than the comparable figures for the first 11 months of 2012.

Digital revenue is expected to be up 21% across the same period.

Rob Woodward, chief executive, said the business was performing in line with its forecasts.

He said: "We remain on track to achieve our growth targets in 2013 and continue to make strong progress in delivery of our strategy to grow non-broadcast earnings."

The STV Productions arm also announced it has won a commission for a quiz show called The Lie for Irish broadcaster TV3.

Work on the 16 episodes of the show, to be co-produced with GroupM Entertainment, will start in December.

STV has recently announced a second series of the revived Catchphrase quiz for ITV as well as a documentary called Pothole Britain for Channel 5.

The Road to Referendum series, presented by Herald columnist Iain Macwhirter, has been nominated in the best current affairs programme category at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) Scotland awards.

Mr Woodward added: "STV Productions continues to secure new commissions across genres and [the latest] commissioning announcement demonstrates our growing credentials in entertainment programming."

Shares in STV closed down 8p, or 2.5%, at 315.5p.