ITV poach new chief executive

Adam Crozier

ITV have found their new Chief Executive by poaching the head of Royal Mail. Set to become the new chief executive of the troubled broadcaster later in the year, is Adam Crozier.

The appointment ends months of speculation after the decision by Michael Grade to quit as executive chairman last April.

The job is the third high-profile position for Crozier, after three years as chief executive at the Football Association - where he raised profits but clashed with club chairmen - and seven years running Royal Mail, which he transformed from an organisation losing GBP£1 million a day to one making daily profits of GBP£1 million, the British newspaper The Times reports.

Archie Norman, the chairman of ITV and former Asda CEO, said that Crozier got the job because of his talent for pushing through changes. Norman said that Crozier was "by far the best choice" to lead a "change in culture and organisation as well as business direction." According to ITV sources, he will earn a similar annual salary to the GBP£800,000 earned by Grade.

Norman added: "What we need is someone to execute a strategy for change. To make ITV not solely dependent on free-to-air advertising and develop new media platforms."

Fallen revenues

Since 2006, ITV's advertising revenues have fallen by 15 percent, owing to the recession and increased competition from digital channels, Although the popularity of The X-Factor meant that ITV ended last year on a high, it remains heavily regulated and its share price has halved in four years.

Analysts said that Crozier faced a tough task in transforming Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster from an "old media" behemoth to a 21st-century digital company.

They said that online advertising, which grew by 45 percent last year, could be one area of development. Internet clips of the singer Susan Boyle performing on Britain's Got Talent drove millions to ITV.com, helping to double the site's growth and bring in GBP£10 million.

However, Crozier's departure from Royal Mail leaves the business with a problem, as very few executives are likely to want the job due to the number of difficulties the company faces.

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