Fincham favourite to succeed Duncan at Channel 4

Published on Wednesday 16 September 2009 21:41

PETER Fincham, director of television at ITV, is being tipped as one of the front runners to succeed Andy Duncan who yesterday confirmed he is stepping down from the top job at Channel 4.

After months of speculation, Mr Duncan said he had mutually agreed to leave the embattled broadcaster before the end of the year. C4 is publicly owned, but commercially funded. Mr Duncan's five years in the role have been marked by a slump in advertising revenues and failed attempts to find a commercial partner.

He said: "We have mutually agreed that this feels like the appropriate moment for me to hand on the baton to someone else."

C4 chairman Luke Johnson is also due to step down in January.

Mr Duncan's departure leaves two of Britain's biggest broadcasters in a state of management upheaval. Rival group ITV is said to be getting near to announcing former Sky boss Tony Ball as its new chief executive.

Mr Fincham, who was also a former controller of BBC1, is seen as a favourite to replace Duncan. When Mr Duncan was hired by C4 in 2004, Mr Fincham, then the head of independent production company Talkback Thames, was hotly tipped for the job.

But other names are being linked to the position. They include Kevin Lygo, head of content at C4, Jana Bennett, director of BBC vision, current Ofcom chief Ed Richards, and his predecessor, Lord Carter.

Anne Bulford, C4 finance director, will take up the role on an interim basis if a successor is not found by the time Mr Duncan leaves.

There has been some speculation that Rob Woodward, chief executive of STV Group, may be interested in the position. He was previously commercial director of C4 Corporation. However, one media analyst said: "That would surprise me as he has his teeth stuck in at STV. If he pulled out now, before finishing his task, it would be seen as a failure."

Mr Woodward is at present trying to reinvent STV through a refocus on Scottish programming and ugrading its website.