It is understood that Doughty Hanson, TV3’s new owner, has appointed a recruitment consultant in the UK to seek a replacement for Hetherington. The new chief executive is not expected to be Irish and internal candidates are not being considered for the post.
An appointment is expected within the next two months allowing for a handover period before Hetherington departs before Christmas.
Hetherington, a CanWest executive, spent eight-and-a-half years in Ireland with TV3, overseeing its launch and taking the terrestrial broadcaster to profitability. The Canadian-born executive and his wife plan to live near Southampton on the south coast of England.
In September 2005, CanWest became the first foreign media company to be awarded a broadcast licence in the UK. It was awarded a 12-year FM radio licence covering Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth.
Doughty Hanson, a private equity group, agreed to pay €265m to acquire TV3 earlier this year.