Ofcom Names Johnson As New Channel 4 Chairman
Ofcom has surprised the broadcasting industry by announcing that Luke Johnson, owner of The Ivy and the man who floated Pizza Express, will replace Vanni Treves as chairman of Channel 4.
It had been expected that the £66,000 a year non-executive position would be handed to former Coca-Cola executive, Penny Hughes, whose name appeared at the top of a shortlist of candidates leaked to the press earlier this month (see Channel 4 Ponders Hughes To Take Over Chairmanship).
Other figures linked to one of the most high-profile jobs in UK broadcasting included Orange founder Hans Snook, former Arcadia chief executive Stuart Rose and Guardian Media Group boss, Bob Phillis.
However, Johnson was the choice of media-super-regulator, Ofcom, which recently took over responsibility for the appointment from the Independent Television Commission. It is understood that Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, also approved the appointment earlier this week.
Commenting on the appointment, Ofcom chairman, David Currie, said: “Luke combines an outstanding commercial and strategic track record with a passion for public service broadcasting and Channel 4. He has the ideal experience to guide the Channel 4 Board as it addresses the significant challenges ahead.”
Johnson added: “Channel 4 plays a critically important role at the heart of UK public service broadcasting, with a brilliant track record at the forefront of innovation and creativity in television. I am very excited by this opportunity to help guide its development in the future.”
Johnson began his career with BMP and subsequently joined Kleinwort Benson as a media analyst. However, he is best known as the serial entrepreneur who floated the Pizza Express chain in 1997. Previous directorships include My Kinda Town, American Port Services, Abacus Recruitment, Whittards of Chelsea and Nightfreight.
It is understood that Channel 4 wanted an established businessman as chairman to guide it out of what has been a difficult period. The publicly funded broadcaster has been hard hit by the ongoing advertising downturn and restructured back in October 2002 with the loss of hundreds of jobs (see Channel 4 Announces Most Radical Restructure In 20 Years).
However, the outlook is improving for the channel, which saw profits triple last year after holding advertising revenues flat during 2003 and cutting non-programme costs to focus on its core business (see Outlook Improves For Channel 4 As Profits Triple).
Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com
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