Can Adam Crozier deliver?

Raymond Snoddy on ITV’s new CEO: He “is making many of the right noises, but as the management manual would say, he now has to deliver – and history is not on his side…”

The talk from the new ITV chief executive was very tough and ambitious. The old ITV management has been shown the door.

“New ITV is a multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-content business” that was going to invest heavily in the internet, and over five years reduce the broadcaster’s dominance on ITV1 advertising revenue to 50% from its current 70%. Great transformation plan.

That ITV chief executive was Charles Allen and he was speaking in February 2006, around the time ITV was celebrating its 50th anniversary, with a lavish dinner in London’s Guildhall.

We now know of course that the big move online via Friends Reunited was not so smart, and that new digital channels such as ITV Play didn’t exactly set the world alight.

If anything, the entirely worthy ambition to reduce ITV’s dependence on cyclical advertising appears to have actually gone into reverse.  The recent surge in the advertising market means that television advertising now accounts for around 74% of ITV revenues.

Those who do not pay attention to history are forced to relive it.

It is difficult to fault anything said by ITV chief executive Adam Crozier yesterday when he unveiled his first batch of ITV results. It’s just that the words are virtually interchangeable with those of the chief executives who have gone before.

Who would not sign up to – “create lean creative dynamic fit for purpose organisation secure maximum audience revenue share exploit content across multiple platforms driving new revenue streams build stronger more international content build share” etc?

Indeed they did sign up to it all, with knobs on. It was just the small tricky business of actually delivering on the aspirations that proved problematical. In fact, in one respect Michael Grade was even more ambitious and impatient. He went for a three-year plan.

So, let’s ignore the vapour trails and try to get a handle on the specifics.

The plan to launch HD versions of ITV 2, 3 and 4 on the Sky HD platform? Good idea. ITV has been very slow to realise the potential of HD, which via Sky alone is in 2.9 million homes and rising steadily, and it’s equally good to at least re-dip a toe in pay television.

History clearly suggests that it is better to co-operate with Sky in pay-tv rather than trying to launch a full frontal attack. Didn’t ITV Digital absorb close to £1 billion?

The trouble with ticking this positive box is that it is so modest.  How much can Sky be paying for the three channels which are obviously still available for free on digital satellite? It hardly amounts to a pay policy. At least for now – it’s a drop in the ocean.

The launch in January of ITV1 +1 is a positive development. It gives an easy audience uplift and should have been done years ago. But the word ‘transformational’ hardly springs to mind, and the gains will be modest.

The relaunch of a now, wholly-owned, GMTV as Daybreak next month with the expensive help of Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley is another step in the right direction. Little, however, is likely to change in the short term. Audiences at breakfast are usually loyal to what they are used to and it would be surprising if there were any great growth in audience. Sky actually lost audience share at breakfast when they revamped everything and put in new presenters.

Daybreak should at least benefit next year from the spectacular own goal about to be scored by the BBC in moving Breakfast to Salford.

Wisely, the target date for moving to 50% “non-television advertising sources” is kept rather vague and only loosely associated with the Five Year Transformation Plan.

“Over time we expect to move to a position whereby half of ITV’s revenue base will be delivered from non-television advertising sources,” says Crozier, in a classic example of management speak.
Over time could mean by next century. QPR fans “expect” to get into the Premiership next season but they don’t really believe it’s going to happen. Not really.

Yet the target is astonishingly ambitious. Allen hoped that ITV1 revenues would account for no more than 50% of the total by 2012. He was at least putting digital television advertising into the other side of the equation. Crozier is not.

It is not easy to see even “over time” how ITV Studio revenues of £254 million and online revenues of £12 million can be made to match ITV’s net advertising revenues of £987 million.

But the great thing about having a five-year plan, or making non-promises over time, is that you have bought yourself some breathing space.  You may be cynical about my promises but come back in five years and then we will see.

There are a few good things about the new regime at ITV; the retention of Peter Fincham as director of programmes is a big plus, as is the addition of Kevin Lygo and Fru Hazlitt to the management team.

But all anyone can honestly say is so far so good. Adam Crozier is making many of the right noises, but as the management manual would say, he now has to deliver. And history is not on his side…

An interview and Q&A session with Adam Crozier will take place at MediaTel Group’s first ever TV summit on 25th November. Click here to get involved.