The cheque's in the post: £2m bonus for departing Crozier

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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ITV's new chief executive, Adam Crozier, could walk away from his old job at the head of Royal Mail with £2m in bonuses. The broadcaster appointed Crozier, who has no television experience and is the second highest-paid public sector worker, to the top role after a long and occasionally tortuous 10-month search.

Crozier will be rewarded from a three-year bonus scheme based on efficiency targets at the postal operator, which has recently been hit by a series of national strikes over mounting workloads.

Archie Norman, ITV's chairman, said Crozier, who is the former head of the Football Association, had the "steely resolve we need at ITV", which was looking for a "great leader". However, he conceded: "There are those I know who think we should be looking for a star broadcaster … my assessment of ITV is that we have great TV broadcasting talent here."

Norman, the former Tory MP and chief executive of supermarket Asda who took over as ITV chairman earlier this month, added: "What the business needs is someone to lead it on a programme of transformational change. That means a change in culture and organisation as well as business direction."

Crozier, 46, was responsible for "transformational change" in both his previous jobs, which led him into conflict with the unions at Royal Mail and made him enemies at the FA. There are signs of a creative renaissance at ITV, which has started to assemble a competitive schedule around its Saturday night talent shows, including the hugely successful X Factor and Dancing on Ice. More than 17 million people watched the final of Britain's Got Talent on ITV1 last June, the biggest non-sport television audience for five years.

Director of television, Peter Fincham, who was regarded as a candidate for the chief executive's job, commissioned a host of new dramas last year, including Robbie Coltrane vehicle Murderland. Five-part drama Collision was one of several successes last year, and ITV1 was named channel of the year last night, the day after Crozier's 46th birthday.

"I am very excited to be joining ITV, a company with a great heritage and one of the best brands in the UK," Crozier said. "The entire media sector is going through enormous change and that presents both great opportunities and significant challenges for everyone in the industry.

But the Royal Mail boss, who also ran the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, faces big challenges.

Despite ratings success last year, terrestrial TV channels are struggling to sustain audience share as more households sign up to multi-channel TV.

A plethora of other media, including social networking sites, available on a huge array of devices like per

sonal organisers and games consoles are competing for consumer's attention.

Crozier is likely to search for ways to reduce ITV's dependence on an old-fashioned free-to-air advertising model by identifying new ways to make money.

That could involve selling a greater number of ITV shows overseas or launching new digital channels to complement ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. The company could even charge for some or all of those channels, or create new ones that consumers might be willing to pay for.

Norman and Crozier will also lead delicate negotiations with the government about further reducing ITV's public service obligations. The broadcaster has already said it would pull out of regional news, but it is unclear what will replace its programming. Norman described ITV as "Britain's most highly regulated company".

ITV's fate is, however, not necessarily in its own hands. BSkyB holds a 17.9% stake and has been ordered by the competition authorities to sell the majority of it. Sky recently lost a legal battle to keep the stake. It could be acquired by a rival broadcaster intent on buying ITV and used as the springboard for a bid.

Norman, who hired Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton – Crozier's boss – when he ran Asda, said today there would be no further cost cuts at ITV, which has shed over 1,000 jobs in the last 12 months in response to the advertising recession.

Norman said: "In the last year we have achieved probably more in terms of cost reduction than ITV has achieved any time in the last five years. That has given us a financial platform, and headroom, to deliver change. So our top priority is not cost reduction."

In an email to staff, Norman said Crozier's appointment brought to an end "a long period of uncertainty for ITV".

Several candidates have turned down the job since Michael Grade said he would step down last March. ITV came close to appointing Tony Ball, a former chief executive of BSkyB, in September before balking at his pay demands, which included a package worth more than £40m over five years, including pay, pension and bonus.

Norman said Crozier's pay is yet to be finalised. "It is not in the Tony Ball league, very far from it," he said.

It is understood he will move to ITV after the end of March to ensure that he receives his Royal Mail payout.

The scheme only pays out fully for executives who remain at the company for the entire period. Royal Mail said yesterday that Crozier would leave in "several months" but it is understood that his departure will almost certainly take place after the March 31st cut-off date. Royal Mail's last available accounts show that he has already built up £706,000 of bonuses under the three-year incentive scheme, with about £500,000 of this being accrued in the second year.

Royal Mail increased profits in the first half of the current financial year compared with the same period last year and if the performance is also strong in the final six months of the year, he could scoop another £500,000 to add to his bonus pot.

A spokesman for Royal Mail declined to comment on how much Crozier may receive but a source close to the company admitted it was theoretically possible that the company's remuneration committee could restrict Crozier's payout because he has announced his intention to leave.

Crozier will also net close to another £1m for the current financial year in basic salary and other payments, and scoop a £1m pension pot after his seven years at the company.Norman said that the board, which had been divided during the ill-fated negotiations with Ball, was "unanimous and emphatic" in selecting Crozier. "He was my first choice" he added. "He would have been my first choice if I'd been approached a year ago".

[ziko]

Jesus

[Stormproof]

RIP ITV a once loved and respected terrestrial TV channel whos total demise is now numbered in Two to Three years.

I don't know about much loved , the quality of the ITV reminds me of reading the Sun. As far as :cfo goes he should be banned from working in high powered jobs after all his track record leaves a lot to be desired.

[k979aaa]

And i thought royalmails finances were in a perilous state if they can pay him off with a bonus for DESTROYING A PUBLIC SERVICE so he can enrich himself with another media company WHY IN GODS NAME CAN THEY NOT PAY THE PENSIONS PROMISED TO ALL WHO HAVE DONE SO MUCH MORE?. :cfo

[DGP1]

That could involve selling a greater number of ITV shows overseas or launching new digital channels to complement ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. The company could even charge for some or all of those channels, or create new ones that consumers might be willing to pay for.

Who's going to pay to watch reruns on Jeremy Kyle? I already pay too much to watch tv and won't be paying anymore to watch repeats on ITV (unless they move Coronation Street to PPV in which case my wife will insist ).