The Scotsman

STV names ITV director as new CEO

STV Group, the Glasgowbas­ed broadcaste­r, has appointed a high-ranking ITV boss as its new chief executive.

Until April of this year, Rufus Rad cl if few as a member of itv’ s executive committee and latterly held the position of managing director of streaming, interactiv­e and data, playing a key role in the accelerati­on of ITV'S digital transforma­tion. He was responsibl­e for the strategic developmen­t and launch of ITVX in December 2022.

Over a 13- year career with itv, Radcliffe previously held the positions of chief marketing officer, where he ran all direct-to-consumer activities and led the brand transforma­tion of ITV, as well as the marketing launch of brit box. he also served as group marketing and research director. Prior to joining ITV, he spent nine years at Channel 4.

STV has had something of a fractious relationsh­ip with ITV in the past. The group, which was once called Scottish Media Group, has never been subsumedin­to the vast itv empire, despite previous talk of a potential takeover.

The change at the top for STV, which holds the scottish television and Grampian Television licences, follows the announceme­nt in March of Simon Pitts’ intention to step down from the board and his role as chief executive.he will do that on october 31 with rad c li ffe formally taking up the post on November 1.

Radcliffe said: “STV is a great brand with an enviable track record of making high quality, must-watch content and has a strong relationsh­ip with viewers and advertiser­s. I’m thrilled to be joining and cannot wait to work with everyone at STV to build on the tremendous success and growth of the past few years.”

Paul Reynolds, chairman of STV, which is due to release its results to investors next Tuesday, said: “The board is delightedt­owelcomeru­fustoleads­tv following a competitiv­e selection process involving some of the best leadership talent in the UK media industry. We now embark on the next phase of STV’S exciting growth journey as a digital first, content-led business and Rufus brings withhimara­rebreadth of strategic and operationa­l expertise from his previous significan­t industry roles. We very much look forward to working with him.” Separately, STV announced that Colin Jones would be appointed to the board as an independen­t nonexecuti­ve director and chair of its audit and risk committee on September 2. Described as an experience­d FTSE-250 financial officer, Jones had a “highly successful” executive career in the technology, media and telecommun­ications sector.

He served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Euromoney Institutio­nal Investor,theglobali­nformation and events business, where he worked for 22 years, until 2018. Since then, he has pursued a non-executive career.

Reynolds added: “Colin’s keen interest in the media sector and extensive finance and nonexecuti­ve experience will be of benefit to us.”