Shares in UK broadcaster ITV (ITV) were curiously flat following news that chief executive Adam Crozier was stepping down after seven years at the helm. Mr Crozier's leadership has helped the group navigate through a period of structural change in broadcasting, characterised by mounting pressure from digital upstarts and decreasing appetite for TV advertising. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Ian Griffiths, who steps into a newly created combined role of chief operating officer and group finance director. Meanwhile, Sir Peter Balzagette will take on the mantle of executive chairman during the interregnum, prior to the appointment of a permanent successor.
The muted response to the news probably followed on from earlier press speculation that the group had already embarked on a "well developed succession plan". But it could point to even more profound change, according to analysts at Liberum, which theorised that the reason no replacement had been announced was because there was a "reasonable chance" a bid would be made for the broadcaster. That's because a decade ago, Mr Griffiths, in a previous incarnation as finance director of Emap, ran the publishing company, along with chairman Alun Cathcart, following the departure of the chief executive in the period leading up to its eventual break-up and sale.
