Grade to step down as chief of ITV

Published on Thursday 23 April 2009 22:08

ITV IS looking for a new boss after announcing that Michael Grade will step down to become non-executive chairman before the end of the year.

Grade is set to relinquish his role as executive chairman after the end of a series of regulatory reviews in the broadcasting sector.

ITV, which has been battered by an advertising slump, also confirmed it was not planning to make a cash call to shareholders after reviewing options to boost its balance sheet.

The broadcaster said: "Michael Grade has recommended to the board that the conclusion of the regulatory reviews will be the right time for him to relinquish his executive responsibilities and become non-executive chairman, as planned."

It hopes to appoint a new chief executive "as soon as practicable" following the outcome of a major review into ITV's contract rights renewal (CRR), which protects advertisers from ITV abusing its dominant position when it sells airtime.

But an appointment will be made no later than the end of this year, according to ITV.

Grade, who switched from the BBC to take the ITV job in November 2006, has also worked at London Weekend Television and spent more than nine years as chief executive of Channel 4 Television.

Grade has faced a number of battles during his time at the broadcaster. His first task was to deal with the fallout of BSkyB's controversial shares swoop at the end of 2006, which scuppered the then-NTL's hopes of a merger with ITV.

The saga has yet to conclude, with BSkyB still pursuing an appeal against the government's ruling that it must sell down the 17.9 per cent stake – an issue that has hung over ITV and its shares, down more than 70 per cent in the past two years.

Grade also presided over ITV during the fallout from the viewer phone-in scandal, which saw the company hit with a hefty fine from regulators. The group has suffered badly from a decline in the advertising market.

It announced 600 job cuts and a cost-cutting drive last month after reporting annual pre-tax losses of 2.73 billion due to asset write-downs and the advertising woes – leading Grade to admit defeat in his hopes for a content-led turnaround.

Alongside the long-running BSkyB saga and advertising market troubles, the results of significant regulatory overhaul also loom large over ITV.

The CRR review will determine whether ITV has to stick to onerous rules forcing it to compensate advertisers when its audience share dips, while its public sector broadcasting remit is also under the microscope as part of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report.

HIGH FLYER

&#149 Michael Grade's first job was as a sports journalist for the Daily Mirror on 10 a week. He arrived on his first day in his father's chauffeur-driven car.

&#149 At LWT, he attempted to dislodge BBC's Match of the Day with a rival football show: pundits branded it "snatch of the day".

&#149 He adopted his trademark big cigars, red socks and braces when he was president of a Hollywood production company.

&#149 At the BBC, he axed Dr Who and almost scrapped Blackadder after the first series.