Ball Rules Himself Out Of ITV Top Job

The former chief executive of BSkyB, Tony Ball, has ruled himself out of the race to succeed Charles Allen as the chief executive of ITV, according to reports in the Times.

Ball’s public withdrawal still leaves several contenders for the position, although the Times report says that the ITV board expects to appoint an ‘outsider’ to the post.

Allen quit as head of ITV yesterday after mountnig speculation as to his future and will be replaced by interim chief executive John Cresswell, currently the company’s finance director (see Charles Allen Leaves ITV).

Stephen Carter, former head of Ofcom, has been tipped to take over from Allen. However, ITV’s main rivals are worried that this constitute a conflict of interest (see Rival Broadcasters Could Block ITV Appointment).

ITV released their interim results earlier today which showed that although their advertising revenues are expected to be down for the nine months to September, the company’s profits have been boosted by stron performances from businesses outside the flagship channel ITV1 (see ITV Profits Up Despite Weak Ad Market).

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