Does Archie Norman have the X-Factor?
November 18th, 2009 by Rob Brown
ITV may well have pulled off a major coup in appointing the towering figure of Archie Norman as the broadcaster’s new chairman. What’s more the £300,000 salary is 10% of what he was paid when he left ASDA. This is undoubtedly one of the toughest jobs in TV. Advertising revenues have been in free fall, audiences are down and the once coveted position on the terrestrial tuner is no longer that valuable. Media experts like the Guardian’s Emily Bell have been foreshadowing the third channel’s demise for some time ”ITV looks like a basket case” she wrote earlier this year.
So why might Norman, an acknowledged powerhouse in retail and politics but with no media experience, change the game? It is precisely because, unlike current chairman Michael Grade, he isn’t shackled by conventional ideas. ITV has been quietly making progress of late and not because of the audience grabbing ratings winning X-Factor. They are on the brink of doing a major deal with US video on demand venture Hulu which could see ITV holding a 25% equity stake in the UK operation of the Disney, NBC Universal, and News Corp joint venture. Online TV delivery is the future for the medium and this could make ITV a major player. Cutting deals with the Americans can be tough but let’s not forget that Norman is the man took ASDA to Walmart.
Some say that ITV’s only real value lies in the content, Coronation Street and X-Factor (and it doesn’t own the latter). Archie Norman will restore some of the power balance from programme makers to the broadcaster. He’s not a person likely roll over and have his tummy tickled by the likes of Simon Cowell.
Tags: Archie Norman, Asda, Chairman, ITV, Simon Cowell, Walmart
