SCOTTISH broadcaster STV has appointed a new chief executive.
The Glasgow-based media firm has recruited Rufus Radcliffe from ITV to succeed Simon Pitts, who will depart on October 31.
Mr Radcliffe will take the helm on November 1 following a 13-year stint at ITV, where until April 2024 he was a member of the executive committee and was latterly managing director of streaming, interactive and data.
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He is credited with playing a key role in the acceleration of ITV’s digital transformation, and was responsible for the strategic development and launch of ITVX in December 2022.
Paul Reynolds, chair of STV Group, said: “The board is delighted to welcome Rufus to lead STV 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 with him a rare breadth of strategic and operational expertise from his previous significant industry roles. We very much look forward to working with him.”
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Mr Radcliffe's appointment comes shortly after STV issued encouraging guidance for first-half advertising revenue, boosted by its coverage of Euro 2024, and progress on cutting costs in June. It expects total advertising revenue to grow by 10-12% in the first half.
The company, which publishes its interim results on Tuesday (September 3), also underlined the continuing progress of its productions arm, STV Studios, last week. STV said the unit had secured four new commissions for Apple TV+, including a second series of international thriller Criminal Record, starring Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo, with partner Tod Productions.
The company and partners including Hello Mary and Hella Halo have also been recommissioned by the BBC for further runs of Bridge of Lies and Celebrity Bridge of Lies, as well as commissions from Channel 4 for new factual entertainment format The Game of Wool, and from More4 for a second series of The Royals: A History of Scandals.
Mr 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.”
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Mr Pitts, who has run STV since 2018, is taking over as the new chief executive of Global, owner of radio stations Capital, Heart, Classic FM, Smooth and Radio X, early next year.
Alongside the appointment of Mr Radcliffe, STV announced that experienced FTSE-250 executive Colin Jones will join its board as an independent non-executive director and chair of its audit and risk committee on Monday (September 2).
STV said Mr Jones has had a “highly successful” career in the technology, media and telecommunications sector, having served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Euromoney Institutional Investor, the global information and events business, where he worked for 22 years until 2018.
Before this he was a director at accountancy giant PwC for 15 years, working across strategy, remuneration, financing, technology and mergers and acquisitions in the UK and Europe.
Since 2018 Mr Jones has pursued a non-executive career and holds positions at M&C Saatchi, Gateley (Holdings), and Datatec, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. He will shortly step down as chair of Centaur Media, having served on its board since 2018.
Meanwhile, STV said that Simon Miller has decided to step down from its board in December. The company said Mr Miller has “served STV with distinction since December 2016 as senior independent director and as employee director”.
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