Commercial director McCulloch to depart ITV

An ITV spokeswoman said McCulloch's leaving date has not yet been set, but he is expected to leave in June. She said the search for his successor has already begun.

During McCulloch's time at ITV, he helped increase the broadcaster's focus on the client-facing side of the commercial operation and oversaw the creation of ITV Imagine, a department that supports creative and innovative efforts across all areas of the Company.

He also led a campaign aimed at abolishing Contract Rights Renewal, the mechanism introduced to protect advertisers at the time of Carlton and Granada's merger into ITV.

McCulloch said: "After 27 years with ITV it feels like the right time for me to explore new opportunities. The creation of a single ITV sales operation and the organisational restructures and strategy realignment involved in achieving that has been a great a challenge.

"We now have a refocused sales structure and marketing operation that reflect the needs of our customers much more effectively. With those changes in place and the new strategy bearing fruit it's time for me to face some fresh challenges elsewhere."

John Cresswell, chief operating officer and finance director at ITV, said: "Ian has made an outstanding contribution to ITV in his long career here.  More recently he has put in place an excellent team and started a culture change and ITV now has a better and more constructive relationship with its customers than ever before.  As a colleague and a friend we wish him all the very best for the future."

McCulloch joined the ITV network of companies in 1980 as a sales assistant at LWT and was promoted to his current position in late 2005 by the then chief executive, Charles Allen, as part of a far reaching shake-up which included Simon Shaps becoming director of television.

McCulloch worked with Allen, who was axed last August, at ITV company Granada for more than a decade, most recently as operations director of Granada Broadcasting.

Following the merger of Carlton and Granada in 2003, ITV was formed, with Allen as its chief executive and McCulloch as chief operating officer of ITV Broadcasting.