ITV is kicking off a search for a new chairman as Sir Peter Bazalgette prepares to step down next year after almost a decade on the broadcaster’s board.
Sky News has learnt that ITV's nominations committee, led by the former Jupiter Fund Management boss Edward Bonham Carter, has appointed Spencer Stuart to oversee the search.
Sir Peter, who has chaired the commercial television group since 2016, is not expected to leave until his term expires in May 2022.
In total, he will have served for nine years on ITV's board, having been a non-executive director for three years prior to replacing Archie Norman.
Sir Peter, a former chief creative officer at the TV production company Endemol, is a respected figure both at ITV and in the wider broadcasting industry.
A number of the company's leading shareholders are said to be disappointed that he has effectively been "timed out" by the corporate governance code, which stipulates that chairs are no longer deemed independent after nine years in total on a listed company's board.
His successor as chair will inherit a company that, like many others, is grappling with rapid changes convulsing the media landscape.
ITV's stock price has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with the company's chief executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, revealing last summer that advertising revenue had been hit by the sharpest fall in its history.
During the last 12 months, shares in ITV have fallen by nearly a quarter, giving the company a market value of £4.37bn.
ITV declined to comment on the search for a new chairman.
