ITV’s Adam Crozier Stepping Down

After seven years as chief executive of ITV, Adam Crozier is exiting the role at the end of June, with Ian Griffiths, COO and group finance director, to lead the executive team for an interim period.

Sir Peter Bazalgette, ITV’s chairman, is taking on the role of executive chairman in this interim period as well. The British media group said it will announce Crozier’s successor in due course, having a “well-developed succession plan in place.”

“Adam has been talking to me and the Board for some time now about his future plans,” Bazalgette said. “He has made a fantastic contribution to ITV and the Board is deeply indebted to him for his strong leadership and personal dedication in very successfully turning around the business and building a more global and diversified organization with real scale in key creative markets around the world. Under Adam, external revenues have grown by over a billion pounds, non-NAR revenues have more than doubled to almost £1.9 billion, EBITA has grown by 338 percent and adjusted earnings per share have grown by 844 percent. He has also built a very strong management team and a clear strategy that this team will remain focused on delivering. Coupled with our robust balance sheet and strong underlying cash flows Adam has created a real legacy that will allow ITV to continue to invest and also deliver sustainable returns to shareholders. ITV and the Board wish Adam all the best for the future as he looks to the next stage of his career.”

Crozier, who steps down June 30, noted, “It’s been an absolute privilege to lead the transformation of ITV over the past seven years and I know that I will miss this great business and the people who work here. However, having spent 21 years as a chief executive across four very different industries, I now feel that the time is right for me to move to the next stage of my career and to build a portfolio of roles across the PLC and private sectors. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved in turning ITV into one of the most successful and dynamic media and content businesses in the world. All the credit for that achievement goes to the fantastic teams of people working right across ITV. I hugely appreciate all the help and support they have given me and I am very happy to have played my part. Going forward, our strategy remains the right one for ITV and I leave behind a strong and talented management team who I know will continue to execute it with energy and confidence. Today ITV is more robust, well balanced and stronger both creatively and financially than ever before, and is well placed for the digital future. I wish the company every continued success.”