Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, has named Michael Jackson, former head of Channel 4, as his preferred candidate for the chief executive role at ITV.
According to reports in the trade press, Jackson, at the moment president of programming at InterActiveCorp, is being lined up to become chief executive if the NTL/ITV merger is successful.
At a Morgan Stanley conference in Barcelona, Sorrell said that the critical issue for ITV would be who owns it, and that Jackson would be a “fantastic choice”.
Last week it was reported that ITV had drawn up two shortlists of candidates for the chief executive job, with three names on each list (see ITV Welcomes Ofcom’s Public Service Proposals)
Sorrell’s endorsement for Jackson comes soon after NTL’s announcement that it is to enter into talks with ITV about a possible merger bid (see NTL Telewest Could Merge With ITV), and rumours that RTL is to attempt to acquire the broadcaster (see ITV Welcomes Ofcom’s Public Service Proposals).
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