BBC chairman Michael Grade is to leave the public service broadcaster to become executive chairman of the rival commercial network ITV. The news has rocked the corporation, coming at a critical time in its own re-organisation and re-invention.
BBC chairman Michael Grade is to leave the public service broadcaster to become executive chairman of the rival commercial network ITV. The news has rocked the corporation, coming at a critical time in its own re-organisation and re-invention.
It is a considerable coup for ITV and a body blow to the BBC. Its chairman was due to head the new BBC Trust that will replace the board of governors. It comes just as the BBC is seeking to secure its funding for the next decade and appears to have taken the corporation completely by surprise.
ITV has been looking for a leader since it lost its head man Charles Allen following shareholder discontent at the performance of the company. Poaching the head of the BBC is a deft move that will be an embarrassment to the public service broadcaster, putting it in the position of looking for a new figurehead.
Michael Grade was previously director of programmes at the commercial broadcaster LWT, now part of ITV, moving to controller of BBC One and then chief executive of Channel 4 before becoming BBC Chairman. His new role at ITV will combine the function of chairman and chief executive.
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB recently spent nearly a billion pounds acquiring a significant stake in ITV to inhibit a bid from cable rival NTL.
ITV has been seen as a sitting target for a takeover. The 50 year-old broadcaster has seen its ratings, revenue and share price decline as a new era in digital television has left its traditional business model exposed.
In many ways, Michael Grade is a product of that previous broadcasting background, although his talent for popular television entertainment is undoubted.
The question will be how ITV will shape up to the new challenges of delivering programmes across new digital platforms, from online downloads to video-on-demand services.
Ironically, the news that its chairman would be leaving was leaked on the day that the corporation launched a major feature on its web site and across its bulletins about the future of television.