ITV boss Carolyn McCall is seeking to reassure investors that she is “not going anywhere” amid speculation she is planning to step down after six years at the helm of the broadcaster, writes Alex Brummer.
Despite a fall in the share price under McCall's stewardship, she is determined to see through the transformation of the commercial broadcaster into a British production powerhouse and premium streaming service.
Sources close to McCall point out she has never been a manager who thinks short-term, having spent 23 years helping to secure the future of the Guardian newspaper and seven years as chief executive of EASYJET.
She invested heavily in a new fleet at the airline and upgraded service levels in the face of sniping from the firm's founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
McCall, 63, earned £2.9m in 2023, 22pc down on the previous year.
She found herself in the headlines over alleged protection failings at the reality TV show Love Island and a scandal surrounding presenter Phillip Schofield.
The broadcaster will this week trumpet the unheralded growth of streaming service ITV X which will celebrate its second anniversary on December 8.
McCall's strategic decision to pour money into ITV X cast a shadow over the share price with some investors preferring cash distributions to investment.
ITV will say “the streaming home of ITV has outpaced all other steaming platforms in viewing hours since its launch”.
ITV X has racked up 35pc growth in viewer hours in two years, ahead of BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Disney+.
“Two years on, ITV X is now firmly established as a superior streaming destination for a wealth of must-watch content,” said Kevin Lygo, ITV's managing director for Media and Entertainment.
In the 24 months since ITVX was launched, it has had six billion streams, with one 2022 World Cup game attracting some 70 million streams alone.
But despite the encouraging trends, ITV shares have plummeted 49pc over the past five years.
The shares have perked up 15pc but that has not stopped speculation about McCall's future at the network.
They inched up 0.1pc yesterday. But sources close to the broadcaster insist she is under no pressure at all from the board, headed by Andrew Cosslett, to step down.
Photo: Carolyn McCall. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)
