ITV execs in the frame for C4’s top job
TWO ITV executives were yesterday being hotly tipped to succeed Andy Duncan as chief executive of Channel 4 (C4) when he steps down later this year.
Peter Fincham, ITV’s director of television, and John Cresswell, the commercial broadcaster’s chief operating officer, are both believed to be favourites for the high-profile role.
C4’s Duncan ended months of speculation yesterday when he said he would leave state-owned broadcaster before the end of the year, after five years at the helm.
He blamed the publication of the government’s Digital Britain – which failed to support his idea of plugging C4’s expected £150m a year funding gap with taxpayer cash – and the cancellation of Big Brother as “natural moments” for him to take stock.
There has also been talk of tensions between Duncan and C4 chairman Luke Johnson – who will leave in January – and frustration at a lack of progress on a proposed partial merger of C4 and the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
“My intention in announcing my decision now is to ensure a period of stable leadership, which will allow the board to proceed with recruiting my successor in parallel with Ofcom’s appointment of a new chairman,” said Duncan, who is understood to have received a £585,000 pay-off.
ITV’s Fincham and Cresswell were both contenders for the role of ITV chief executive, which has recently been offered to former-BSkyB boss Tony Ball. Ball has been a vocal critic of current ITV management.
C4’s director of television and content, Kevin Lygo, and the ex-communications minister Lord Stephen Carter, author of the Digital Britain report, are also thought to be in the frame.
But the appointment of the former Labour minister ahead of next year’s general election could be risky for the state-run operation.
“It is more than obvious that the chemistry between Johnson and Duncan had broken down,” said Claire Enders, chief executive of Enders Analysis. “It would be good to avoid a similar situation, but how can you safeguard against that?”