Several ITV shareholders favour Ball appointment

by Staff, Brand Republic 08-Jun-09, 09:20

LONDON - Several of ITV's biggest shareholders are reported to be strongly in favour of Tony Ball, former chief executive of BSkyB, to take the top role at the troubled broadcaster.

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Reports on the weekend said that investors including Fidelity and Legal & General Investment Management are among those keen to see Ball take over the chief executive role at ITV, replacing executive chairman Michael Grade.

Ball is reported to have held talks over the role but is in favour of a restructure and a rights issue -- not all shareholders are in favour of this move. Ball is currently chairman of Kabel Deutschland, having left BSkyB in 2003.

Separately, the Daily Mail reports today that Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are likely to have their salaries significantly reduced by ITV when their contracts come up for renegotiation later this year.

At present, Ant & Dec each have deals worth £20m for three years, which includes work on ITV1 hits 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here' and 'Britain's Got Talent'.

The paper reports that the pair are likely to look elsewhere for work to make up any shortfall. The BBC is also clamping down on the salaries of its highest paid presenters, including Jonathan Ross, whose contract is also up at the end of the year.