ITV has named Dame Carolyn McCall as its new chief executive in a coup for the broadcaster and a blow for her previous employers at Easyjet.
Dame Carolyn, 55, will start work at ITV in January, replacing Adam Crozier, who has been at the helm of the commercial broadcaster for the past seven years.
As it confirmed a much-trailed appointment, ITV said that Dame Carolyn would receive a basic salary of £900,000, but would have the opportunity to earn an annual bonus of up to £1.62 million, or 180 per cent of her annual pay.
She will also be able to earn up to a further £2.4 million under a long term incentive scheme. ITV said the pay and bonus package for Dame Carolyn would provide “broadly the same remuneration opportunity” as that of Mr Crozier, who received £3.4 million last year and saw his annual base pay lifted by 2 per cent to £941,000.
ITV said that it would also be compensating Dame Carolyn for bonuses she would be forfeiting by leaving Easyjet.
Advertisement
Both companies confirmed the move in statements to the stock market this morning.
John Barton, Easyjet’s chairman, said that the budget airline would be sorry to see her go and noted that under her leadership the share price had more than trebled and shareholders had received £1.2 billion in dividend payments.
He hailed her for presiding over “sustained and continuing financial success”, adding: “Carolyn built and led the management team that has transformed Easyjet’s performance in every respect since 2010.”
Peter Bazalgette, chairman of ITV, said that Dame Carolyn “stood out for her track record in media, experience of an international operation, clear strategic acumen and strong record of delivering value to shareholders”.
Mr Bazalgette, who is the former head of Endemol, the maker of the Big Brother reality TV show, is thought to have been keen to line up a successor to Mr Crozier before the broadcaster announces halfway figures for 2017 on July 26. The former chief executive stood down last month.
Advertisement
In a statement, Dame Carolyn said it was a “difficult decision” to leave Easyjet but said: “After seven years, the opportunity from ITV felt like the right one to take.”
Analysts at Shore Capital said: “We are reassured by this morning’s announcement given Ms McCall’s experience of running a major media business and leading the growth of an international FTSE 100 company. We also note her added experience as a non-exec of companies such as Tesco and Burberry.”
ITV shares were trading 2½p higher at 177½p in trading late this afternoon.
Dame Carolyn was seen as the favourite to take over from Mr Crozier, 53, who has achieved something of a recovery at the broadcaster since joining in 2010 but more recently warned of a fall in core advertising revenues.
She has a media background, having moved up through the ranks of Guardian Media Group to become chief executive before joining Easyjet.
Advertisement
An independent director at Burberry, the fashion retailer, since 2014, Dame Carolyn has also served stints on the board at Lloyds TSB, Tesco and New Look.
As well as being a trustee at the Royal Academy, she sits on the board of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Mr Crozier was responsible for taking ITV further into programme making by buying smaller production houses, lessening its dependence on advertising revenue. However, the incursion of providers such as Netflix has put pressure on such revenues.
At its first-quarter trading update in May, Mr Crozier said ITV’s revenue from core 30-second ad slots was down 9 per cent, though online advertising was growing. The market was primed to expect a decline in core advertising of 8 to 9 per cent at the halfway stage.