Andy Duncan to leave Channel 4 “within days”

Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan is expected to announce his resignation “within days”, according to reports.

The Financial Times and Times report that Duncan is to leave the broadcaster by the end of the week, having secured a payoff of up to £585,000, the equivalent of one year’s salary.

According to the Times, he could use a scheduled appearance at this week’s Royal Television Society festival in Cambridge “to justify his tenure at the state-owned broadcaster”.

Duncan’s standing in the boardroom was reduced by his failure to secure a partnership with BBC Worldwide, according to the FT, which was intended to solve the broadcaster’s financial shortfall – predicted to hit £150 million a year by 2012.

Although it was denied by Duncan at the time, it emerged at the recent Media Guardian Edinburgh Television Festival that he was poised to leave Channel 4, with ITV’s director of television Peter Fincham named as an early frontrunner to replace him.

Other names in the frame for the Channel 4 job include the BBC’s Jana Bennett and former government minister Lord Carter of Barnes. Anne Bulford, the broadcaster’s finance director, is expected to take on Duncan’s role until a replacement is found.

This week is should also see Tony Ball’s appointment as new ITV new chief executive.