Shakeup at ITV Online Division

LONDON: Following news of the departure of Robin Pembrooke, ITV has appointed Julian March as the new director of online, with plans to split the division, putting around 40 jobs at risk.

Pembrooke, who joined ITV in 2010, will leave the company at the end of summer. Pembrooke had been serving as managing director of ITV online and on demand. March will replace Pembrooke as the head of ITV’s online operations, responsible for the programs’ websites and the ITV Player. March has outlined plans to split the broadcaster’s online division into three segments: online products, editorial and business planning.

A series of cost-cutting measures are being put in place, the result of which puts 40 out of the 100 jobs in the division at risk.

Fru Hazlitt, ITV’s managing director of commercial and online, commented, "Online has an increasingly important part to play in our transformation strategy as the behavior of our audiences evolves and changes across multiple platforms.

"As a commercial broadcaster it is vital that ITV’s focus continues to reflect that changing consumer behavior in order to achieve the best commercial opportunities. Julian has done a fantastic job delivering our hugely successful relaunched news and sport sites and I’m delighted that he’ll be taking on this wider remit across our digital portfolio as we deliver the next phase of our online transformation."