Rupert Howell Gives First Public Interview Since ITV Appointment At MediaTel Group Seminar
Rupert Howell, ITV’s new MD of brand and commercial and the man tipped to greatly assist Michael Grade in turning around the broadcaster’s recent lacklustre performance, is to give his first public interview since his appointment at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Television’ seminar tomorrow.
The former McCann Erickson Group president, who will assume his new post on 1 November 2007, has been secured to chat exclusively with the BBC’s media correspondent and event chair, Torin Douglas, in London tomorrow.
Howell’s appointment at the end of September brought to an end a four-month hunt following the departure of ITV commercial director Ian McCulloch in May, and completes Michael Grade’s senior management line-up (see Howell Completes ITV Senior Management Line-Up).
“I was determined to assemble the most formidable team in UK broadcasting, and we identified Rupert as the ideal candidate to lead our brand and commercial development into the new era for ITV,” said Grade at the time.
Howell was reported to have been given the job over the Sky Media managing director, Nick Milligan, Channel 4’s Andy Barnes and the managing director of the Mail On Sunday, Stephen Miron.
ITV’s chief operating officer. John Cresswell, said: “Rupert is widely regarded as one of the most talented advertising executives working in the industry today and it’s a real coup for ITV to have attracted someone of his calibre.
“We remain a business that is primarily advertising funded and Rupert’s role in leading the teams that generate this revenue across all our businesses is absolutely crucial to our growth strategy.”
Howell has enjoyed a successful career in the advertising industry having founded and led Campaign‘s “Agency of the 90s” Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury. This was sold to Chime Communications plc in 1997, where he became CEO.
Latterly, he was president and regional director EMEA and chairman UK and Ireland Group of McCann Erickson, the world’s largest advertising agency. He was president of the IPA in 2000/2001 and of the EACA (European Association of Communications Agencies) in 2006/2007.
This addition to tomorrow’s all-day event completes an already impressive panel line-up. Joining Howell are the likes of Jim Marshall, chairman of Starcom Mediavest Group; Andy Barnes, sales director at Channel 4; Nick Bampton, managing director at Viacom Brand Solutions; Blake Chandlee, director of UK media sales, Yahoo! UK and Ireland and Rahul Chakkara, controller, BBCi, amongst others.
Last week the ‘Death of TV’ debate was re-ignited, following a letter from Tess Alps to the Guardian, the AOP conference and the MediaGuardian Changing Advertising Summit (see Death of TV Debate Re-ignites, Sparks Fly).
A few tickets remain for the ‘Future of Television’. For full details and to book, click here.
MediaTel Group: 0207 439 7575 www.mediatelgroup.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com