Agencies welcome Grade's imminent arrival at ITV

Allen said: "I think the appointment of Grade is an excellent one. He brings a wealth of experience in not only commercial television, but in programming in general. He's got experience from all sides of the industry.
 
"Grade will bring a lot of certainty to the ITV business model, and hopefully will bring about some form of structural change, which is what ITV needs."

Jerry Hill, group chief executive of Intiative, said: "The Michael Grade appointment is a real coup for ITV. The network is a content and entertainment enterprise in transition. His standing in the industry will attract the top creative and commercial talent vital to accelerating them into an entreprenural business that will prosper in the new economy."

Neil Jones, managing director of Carat, said the Grade's appointment scored on two fronts, for ITV and hitting its rival the BBC.

Jones said: "It is a stunning PR coup for ITV. It's a double whammy really because it is great for ITV but has, at the same time, struck right at the heart of its biggest rival -- the BBC. Grade is a well-experienced and creative person with good business acumen and a flair for broadcasting. He has masses of respect within the media. It'll be interesting to see how he stamps his authority on the job and how the advertising figures react in a few months time."

The issue of the BBC and how ITV responds to it is one that all in the media industry see as crucial issue.

Jim McDonald, head of broadcast at Media Planning Group, said: "One of the biggest challenges ITV has faced in the last two years has been competing with the BBC now that it's delved into more commercial aspects of broadcasting."

Steve Bignell, broadcast director at MediaCom, said: "I think we will see a rise in ITV's performance once Grade takes over, but not necessarily any decline from the BBC, it's a national institution and one with a vast amount of resources at its disposal. A strong BBC is crucial to the health of the UK broadcast industry."

Grade's appointment is to be for anything up to three years. Within that time, Grade and the board expect to appoint a chief executive with Grade stepping back from day-to-day management to become non-executive chairman.

McDonald sees Grade's experience as a crucial to helping ITV re-establish itself and face the challenge of competing effectively with the BBC.

Grade, 63, has a strong media heritage, having been chief executive at Channel 4. He comes from a showbusiness background -- his uncle Lord Lew Grade was one of the pioneers of ITV.

He has also held the posts of director of programmes at London Weekend Television and BBC Television, as well as heading the merged Pinewood and Shepperton studios.

McDonald said: "I think it's a great appointment for ITV because aside from his experience, Grade's joining is symbolic of ITV's need to re-establish itself. If you need one man who truly understands the demands of modern broadcasting then Grade is your man."

However, Chris Hayward, head of broadcasting at ZenithOptimedia, said that while Grade's arrival will halt a lot of speculation about the ability of ITV to attract big names to the company he was cautious on his ability to end its advertising woes.

"I think it is wrong to see him as the saviour of ITV, however. He will not be able to affect the advertising revenues nor programming of 2006. Most financial decisions made in this industry are made on historical fact so this move may not be able to affect investment decisions for 2007. However, this is a significant move for the city and the changes in this field will be seen more quickly."

Grade's appointment will also, McDonald added, help to put aside the uncertainty and turbulence within ITV over the last few months.

"Nobody can accuse Grade of being a bean counter; he's 63 years old and knows how essential the multiplatform market is to accessing content and is committed to that. It's great news for the commercial sector and a massive coup for ITV," he said.

The issue of multi-platform technology is one that Bignell also sees as important. He described Grade's hiring as an astonishingly good, astute, appointment that will drag ITV kicking and screaming in the direction it needs to be going.

"The key thing about Grade's appointment is that ITV has wanted to expand more into multiplatform technology, and now it will have someone with the calibre and talent to make that happen. It's a critical stage in ITV's development and a significant development for the industry as a whole," Bignell said.

Grade will join the ITV board in early 2007 and will succeed Sir Peter Burt on a package reported to be worth £8m over four years, which includes a basic salary of £825,000 that could double with benefits.

The move comes as ITV continues to search for a chief executive officer to replace Charles Allen, who left the company in October.

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