Saturday Interview: Telly addict Pitts backs STV against global giants

“I watch a lot of TV,” says the former ITV executive, “not just because it is my job, but because I love TV. I’ve been working in TV for 20 years or so, and think it is the most fantastic industry to work in. We have to remind ourselves constantly how lucky we are to be working in the entertainment industry. That’s one of the reasons we decorate the meeting rooms [with images of shows] at STV, to remind people that we work in TV and that we are not working for a firm of accountants.”

It is this straightforward love of the medium which persuaded Mr Pitts, who succeeded Rob Woodward in the top job at STV in January 2018, that his future lay in the industry.

While he reckoned at a young age that it would not be difficult to emulate the legendary sports broadcaster Des Lynam (“there’s a lot more to it than I thought!” Mr Pitts now concedes), it was not until after he completed his masters in European politics, economics and law in Bruges, Belgium, that he took his first steps in television.

He joined ITV in a public affairs and communications role in 2000, splitting his time between London and Brussels. That followed a two-year spell working as a parliamentary adviser in the European Parliament.

From lobbying he moved into a range of general management roles at ITV, and was managing director of its online, pay TV, interactive and technology division before making the switch to STV just over a year ago.

Asked what attracted him to the role, Mr Pitts said the chance to lead a public service broadcaster, which he believes offers considerable growth potential, was “far too good to pass up”. That it offered a change of lifestyle for his wife and three sons, who had only known a life in bustling London, was another attraction.

“I could see an opportunity to grow the business, working in partnership with colleagues here,” Mr Pitts said. “There’s never been a better time to be a producer of shows in Scotland, because there is a real push for some of the national broadcasters to be commissioning more shows from the nations and regions, to reflect a much more diverse Britain than ever before.

“There is an opportunity to fight back against some of the big new digital, global players, by making sure we create an STV for everyone, whether on our main channel or digital.”

Yet there is no denying it turned into a baptism of fire for Mr Pitts at STV. On taking the role, he launched a strategic review which, when it was unveiled just weeks later, announced the closure of the loss-making STV2 digital channel. A revamp of STV’s news operations was also started, with the review leading to 59 redundancies across the board and in turn bringing Mr Pitts under political and media scrutiny.

As a result of the changes, STV booked £11.1 million of exceptional costs in its accounts for 2018, sparking a near-90 per cent fall in bottom line pre-tax profits to £1.9m. However, unveiling the results last month, Mr Pitts hailed the fundamental health of the business, as underlying profits increased by six per cent to £19m. He could also point to a resilient performance in the local advertising market, which “bucked the trend” of Brexit uncertainty.

With regard to STV2, Mr Pitts insists he had not made the decision to close the channel before he joined, but noted he was aware of its viewing figures. That the plug was pulled so soon after the channel first aired around one year previously was not a reflection of the quality of its output, he said, but ultimately a consequence of how competitive the local television market is.

“It was clear that STV2 wasn’t working,” he said. “It was also clear that STV had given it a good shot over a period of four to five years.

“Yes, it had renamed it STV2 only a year previous to that, but the channel had been running as a network of local licences for four or five years.

“And it had been losing nearly £1 million a year, each year, and failing to cut through with the audiences – not because the shows weren’t good, or the team weren’t talented. They did amazing things with small budgets. Rather than ask people to continue to make shows that maybe one or two thousand people were watching, we wanted them to make shows that were getting big audience shares. That is where we put our focus.”

Mr Pitts said the new strategy he has ushered in has the support of all shareholders, including its biggest, the activist investor Crystal Amber.

And he said the finance it has unlocked has allowed for investment in the STV news team, paving the way for its journalists to get out into the field with cameras as never before.

But he said he is acutely aware that “news habits are changing faster than any other element of TV consumption”.

“Stories these days break on your mobile phone at seven o’clock in the morning, not in a scheduled news bulletin at six o’clock or 10.30pm at night,” Mr Pitts said.

“We had to shift from being a broadcast-focused, bulletin-focused, news organisation, to an always-on news gathering operation that breaks stories across the day, where all our journalists are digital journalists and able to shoot, edit, [and] file from wherever they might be in Scotland.”

Away from news, a key priority is to build the firm’s production unit. The division, now headed by David Mortimer after a shake-up of the senior leadership team, has notched a major coup by delivering The Victim, a legal drama starring Kelly Macdonald and John Hannah, which will air on BBC soon.

He described the drama as “proud of its Scottish roots, but with global appeal”, and revealed it has already been sold to six territories around the world.

Further commissions have since been secured from the BBC. These include an adaptation of the Emma Healey novel Elizabeth is Missing, which will be produced in Scotland later this year, and further series of the long-running Antiques Road Trip and its celebrity offshoot. Seventy episodes of the show are made in Glasgow each year, Mr Pitts noted, with the programme employing 50 to 60 staff directly “almost year round”.

While he is able to point to growing momentum at the productions unit, Mr Pitts said the challenge for STV and indeed the whole of the industry in Scotland is to secure more returning programmes of this nature. Only then will a critical mass be developed which can provide sustainable employment for Scotland’s many creative professionals.

“We have got a huge number of talented produces, directors, writers that come from Scotland, but yet you can count the number of returning TV series made in Scotland on one or a maximum of two hands,” he said. “We have a real opportunity to put Scottish TV production right on the map, but to do that you need a number of returning series that are based here.”

Despite the “huge amount of disruption” he has seen in his time in the industry, from the arrival of DVDs to the streaming giants of Netflix and Amazon, Mr Pitts insists “the power of TV endures”.

“What’s unique about television is that it brings people together... whether it is a big drama like Bodyguard, an entertainment show like I’m a Celebrity or the football World Cup,” he said. “It gets people talking – everyone’s got an opinion, good and bad, and that’s what I like about it.”

Six Questions:

What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why?

I would have to say Norway. I’m married to a Norwegian and we go there every summer to remind the kids where they’re from. It would be the perfect country if Norwegians said please and thank you once in a while.

When you were a child, what was your ideal job? Why did it appeal?

When I was young I wanted to be Des Lynam, the BBC sports presenter. His job seemed to be to watch sport all day, crack a few funnies and raise the occasional eyebrow to camera. I thought “I can do that” but now I realise there’s a bit more to it.

What was your biggest break in business?

I met my wife at work. That’s definitely my luckiest break.

What was your worst moment in business?

The 2008 financial crisis. We had to find £100 million in cost savings in six months. It taught me a lot too though.

Who do you most admire and why?

It’s a bit soppy but my parents and my brother. Kind, fun, down-to-earth people who regularly remind me of the important things in life.

What book are you reading and what music are you listening to? What was the last film you saw?

I’m currently reading Macbeth by Jo Nesbo. His books are total escapism and this one is set in a dystopian Inverness. I’m a sucker for 80s rock anthems but these days any indie rock will do - Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro and I’m quite in to the 1975 at the moment. Last film I watched was the Greatest Showman with my boys, I feel like I know every word of that soundtrack, and not by choice.