Liddiment stands down as ITV Director of Channels

David Liddiment – the mercurial ITV boss who commissioned successes like 'PopIdol' and 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?', and ratings killers like early evening 'Premiership' and 'Crossroads' – is to step down from his post at the end of the year.
Mr Liddiment will leave his post with a reputation as a risk-taker who could pull off the spectacular, and who more often than not gambled well. And for the more sedate football fan his decision to air the Premiership at 7pm on Saturday's was inspired, but for match-going supporters (who were mostly not returned home by then), families and those outside the soccer circle, the move was unpopular – and they turned off in droves.
Also, the decision to scrap the 'News At Ten' attracted major criticism and, as with the 'Premiership', a ratings slide and a hasty backtrack saw the programme return. But for many, what seemed to be rudderless approach to scheduling affected ratings and, over the year, ITV's audience share slipped from 38% to 32% - giving BBC terrestrial broadcasting's top spot. Then came the World Cup, and the network's coverage performed poorly and attracted only a fraction of the total audience netted by BBC.
Big-money signings like Des Lynam, Sarah Lancashire and Ross Kemp failed to live up to expectations and some critics pointed to the proliferation of reality TV shows like 'Neighbours from Hell' and 'It Shouldn't Happen To A Newsreader' as evidence of dumbing down.
However, failures paled beside the successes and one City analyst said: "ITV could be right back where they were five years ago. They have lost out of digital… and now they lose the very man who can persuade shareholders to commit the money and resources to ITV1."
Mr Liddiment earned the respect of colleagues and rivals alike, with BBC's director of television, Jana Bennett hailing Liddiment as "a passionate and eloquent advocate of public service broadcasting".
Mr Liddiment had spent 27 years with the network rising to become Director of Programming since 1997 and Director of Channels from April 2001.
Among those in the frame to succeed Mr Liddiment are: David Bergg, director of programme scheduling ITV1 ITV2; Dawn Airey, chief executive of ITV and Channel 5 head; Liam Hamilton, ITV daytime controller; and Simon Shaps, Granada content managing director.
On a future outside ITV, Mr Liddiment said: "I can look forward to getting my life back and escaping the tyranny of the overnight ratings."
ITV, www.itv.com
(GMcG)