91Èȱ¬

Well in these days of reduced advertising, it seemed like an awful lot of money. 2 questions for you Robert:

Will this materially affect ITVs share price enough for them to be pushed into reconsidering?

Who is calling who's bluff on this one?

ITV deserve a serious slap for playing games when trying to replace their chief exec.
there is a fall in revinue from advertising and all this company can do is moan and groan calling for in programme advertising when normal commercial breaks need to increase in income to be viable, well may be itv is been lined up for overseas takeover.

At the end of the day what they were prepared to pay him for the job and what he wanted were too far apart.

It does seem to have been badly handled and all over the press which can't be doing ITV much good.

Will be interesting to see where ITV's share price drops back to in the next couple of days.

Just go for broke and give ITV to Sky. Its what's going to happen later rather than sooner.
Then we will have something to moan about.

I'd like to take this opportunity to throw my hat into the ring. I promise to do the following:

Drop GMTV
Drop All 'new dramas' - because there is very little either dramatic or new about them.
Keep X-factor and BTG - but get rid of the judges and replace them with people who have no vested interest in self promotion.
Re-instate close down at night instead of running endless 'bet TV' with idiotic guessing games that can never be won.
Get rid of all the 'big stars' and replace them with nobody's (because the public really don't care who presents the rubbish on TV.
Gradually sell off all the assets and use the money to re-train all the staf into other careers before shutting the whole show down.

There is too much carp on TV already - we don't need any more.

P.s. My salary - yes I'll expect at least £6 per hour and I want an hour for lunch. I realise I'm a hard barginer but you want the best....

Clearly Mr Ball was not too trusting of the ITV Bosses in whatever shape or form they surfaced.

Now that "Trust" genrally has gone from most major Institutons and the Public are dissolusioned and cynical about those in power, whether at Board Level ( Fred the Sched) or in Banks playing with our monopoly money, it is going to get harder for companies to get Executives to commit to them for any period of time.

It has become a time of Devil take the Hindmost and every man or woman for themselves - to retire early with a massive Pension Pot. Honour, Loyalty and Long Service have all hit the "Buffers" after the fiasco of our Politicians expenses and the Bankers Bonuses. Love of Country and Devotion to the Nartion is left with only the few, many present or past Military People. We are all in very rough seas right now. Mr Ball is wealthy anyway, lives in Spain and can do without a "Job in the UK"

Ha! Six replies in three hours. Clearly the public are gripped by the prospect of who will be the next fat cat at ITV. Give the job to Piers Morgan for all I care - ITVs problems will only be solved by a change in regulation, not a change of personnel.

If we are now going for the job here is what I would do.
Reduce the amount I would ask for ads as no-one watches them but then more ads wold go out as the rate is down. Market forces would then push up the price. Is this whats needed?
And drama, I am sure out there are brilliant writers and directors just waiting for a chance so I would have a go, At a reduced rate. Again supply and demand.
I am willing to go for the interview now. Profits in months after being installed!
I would even move down to that there London.

You work for the 91Èȱ¬ so why should this be of any interest to you - or indeed us ?

I'd love to get to know Robert Peston's opinion about Vauxhall. (Sorry, I know it's off-topic, but I hope I'll be forgiven as I have no other way to try to elicit a response.)
My two cents: it's not really fair that Germany could buy jobs at the expense of other EU members. But it's clearly the flip side of Britain's years-long fight against any EU-wide regulation curtailing social dumping and tax competition among the member countries. Easier firing of workers in Britain played a role in luring in foreign investors and creating jobs in the first place. Now it's playing a role in making British workers comparatively more exposed to being laid off. And a private concern like Magna will certainly factor in subsidies when making decisions. That's free enterprise for you.
Should German taxpayer money then subsidize jobs in other EU countries? Ludicrous. No subsidies, possibly? But no subsidies, no jobs saved anywhere in Europe. Obviously, employment policies should be decided and implemented at the EU level, with European taxpayer money rather than German. Euroskepticism won't allow it. Let Euroskeptics explain that to the Vauxhall workers.
I'm European but not a citizen of Germany, the UK, or Belgium.

At 6:44 pm my post is still awaiting moderation, along with the 3:45 pm post by Barry White. Some delay.

So what do these shenanigans mean for the future of independent television?

#9. At 4:18pm on 25 Sep 2009, CaledonianComment wrote:

"You work for the 91Èȱ¬ so why should this be of any interest to you - or indeed us ? Caledonian Comment"

Err, the last time I looked ITV was a business and Mr Peston was the 91Èȱ¬ business editor, and this is a business news story - do you realise just how many people are employed in the UK media industry and how important ITV is to their work flow?

Regards,
Boilerplated
(who doesn't feel any need to post my blogs URL after ever comment)...

#12. At 6:50pm on 25 Sep 2009, 00Mark wrote:

"So what do these shenanigans mean for the future of independent television?"

It means, in my opinion, if ITV don't get their act together rather quickly they might be like a good drama is on a Saturday night - just a distant memory. In less than 10 years ITV have gone from the Bread basket to Bread bowl of British television.

Sorry to say but ITV have probably got themselves caught up in their own vortex of ever decreasing programme quality, the "X-Factor" being a prime example, pandering to the lowest common denominator all the time leads to only one thing, forcing anyone who can actually think to either switch off or go in search of other content/channels - neither of which is good for advertising revenue - and as most people in the UK can thick for themselves...

In further to my earlier post about getting a interview for the job..........
If you don't increase in share value why should you have a bonus and shares? But who in their right mind would put on a dancing program at prime time, Fri and Sat night?

Sorry but is entertainment coming back into TV? It is after all an entertainment business and so far this plot has being lost by the chairmen.
More entertainment brings more ads, more ads more cash.
There is still a case for ITV regardless of Sky and I would still move down to that there London to run the show.....

#14. At 9:20pm on 25 Sep 2009, I wrote:

#12. At 6:50pm on 25 Sep 2009, 00Mark wrote:

"neither of which is good for advertising revenue - and as most people in the UK can thick for themselves..."

Hmm, was that a Freudian slip I wonder, I hope not! ...the UK can think for themselves... Sorry, I really wasn't trying to offend.

The public can now receive as many TV channels as Radio channels. So probably TV talent salaries will drop to radio scales, even for CEO's and chairmen. Admittedly there's a crop of dinosaurs who haven't twigged this, but the revenues not there anymore.

As long as they keep covering the British Touring Car series on ITV4 I don't care who runs it.

I don't expect turkeys to vote for christmas but the board have done themselves and ITV no favours in seemingly going through the motions of this always non appointment.

However the fact that the contract (for 5 years) was un favourable than then norm for termination fee of uplift in ITV value does make me wonder if anything has been learnt on senior management rewards being based on short term targets.

Maybe, as an entertainment group, they should take a leaf out of the 91Èȱ¬'s book and look for suitable candidates via an "Apprentice" style TV show?

Can't be that hard to find a TV boss, the nominations committee are just making it hard for the sake of it.

But glad the ex-Sky person has gone. Sky make you pay to watch their adverts - unbelievable! What's even more unbelievable is people actually pay to do this!

I think that the TV business is going at this all wrong - I think they should concentrate on making QUALITY programmes - which can then be sold around the world - thus reducing the need for ads. Also, have you seen the quality of most ads these days! If they were better, then its possible that we might want to actually watch them - the reason we don't is not because we don't want to buy stuff (or we are to busy to watch the ads) it's because they are rubbish. So you can go either one of two ways - focused advertising (i.e. use the interactivity available through the telly to chose the ads you see) or vastly increase the enjoyment level of the ads on TV - I mean they make a whole series out of weird and wonderful ads - so someone out there knows how to make an interesting ad!

The problem of commercial TV is that there far too many channels chasing what ever pot advertising gives. Normally I view with suspicion company mergers and take overs but these should rationalise and reduce the number of channels. This will give them the chance to produce much better programs they give now.

I've just had a mad idea.
Why not employ someone who actually watches and enjoys making good television programmes?

I know its mad but it might just work.

Here is my business model:

1. Make some programmes people want to watch.
2. Sell advertising in the commercial breaks.
3. Sell the programmes to other countries and make even more money.

Its not rocket science is it?

( I'll split my consultancy fee with Robert Peston if anyone in ITV reads this and takes it on board)

Regretably in the modern scenario of digital multi-channel broadcasting ITV and its reliance on dated formats and scheduling is just past its shelf-life. Let it just fade into history, the bones picked over by BSkyB and some foreign broadcaster (probably American) to pump out the same trash but cheaper.

The 91Èȱ¬ is told in the late 80s and early 90s to get more commercial; to reduce the pressure on the licence fee; they do just that selling to cable TV world-wide; going digital with a range of products including catch-up TV. The commercial channels living in the 20th century are left behind; they fail to read the runes and pay exorbitant fees for live sport that gets low audience approval; stick with tried and tested formats that increasingly become dated; are shocked that several economic slow downs reduce advertising revenues; miss the major implications of on-line viewing and programme downloads. With the world turning Murdoch is there now a need for the other commercial channels? As with the Carlton and Granada TV companies programme production can continue after financial collapse, but only independently from the broadcasting costs and commitments.

Mr Ball, I suspect has been a player in Rupert's game of world domination, letting the opposition show its weaknesses before he swoops in his tarnished "white knight panto outfit" to save the day. After all BSkyB has the base of millions of subscribers paying usually 3 times the Licence Fee per month for a plethera of rubbish (crime; anti-social behaviour; American sitcom ad nauseum) plus the restrictive practice of Sky only ports coverage of everything but Tiddley Winks.

Maybe now the viewing public will see what a fantastic deal they get for their Licence Fee (£11.95pm); maybe the Government will ignore the lobbyists from commercial TV and congratulate this country's world-leading broadcaster instead of trying to politicise it (a la Murdoch).

No I do not, and never have worked for the 91Èȱ¬, just appreciated its high standard of broadcasting for over 50 years.

From what I read... if his negotiation style fits his operation style, then ITV have been spared a disastrous appointment.

Is the non-executive director, Sir James Crosby, - referred to in this blog - the same person who was chairman of HBOS while it was running up its massive losses? Since ITV is also running up massive losses, surely, with his experience of weathering the storm, he is the ideal candidate for chief executive?

Robert Peston:

That is sad news, Mr. Ball will not be working
for ITV.....


~Dennis Junior~