ITV kicks Ball into touch

25th Sep 2009 14:04

ITV has ended negotiations with Tony Ball over the job of chief executive of the struggling broadcaster after failing to reach agreement on governance issues and pay.ITV had reportedly been balking at Ball's demand of a five-year pay package worth more than £25m and reportedly as much as £42m with incentives, but salary was not the only reason the talks broke down ITV insiders said.In a statement, ITV said it was "not in the best interests of the company to appoint Mr Ball". The company also said that Michael Grade, the executive chairman, had agreed to stand down from the company completely as part of the agreement with his replacement. He will leave the company once a new non-executive chairman has been appointed.Reports citing sources close to the negotiations suggested that Ball wanted some influence over the choice of Grade's replacement including a veto, something the company was not prepared to concede.The new non-executive chairman will lead the search for a new chief executive, ITV added."The search process for a new chairman is well advanced and discussions are ongoing with a number of external candidates," ITV said in a statement.Possible candidates for the ITV chair include Sir Crispin Davis, the former chief executive of Reed Elsevier and Sir Christopher Bland, the former chairman of the BBC and BT.