stv group unveils senior management team

THE owners of stv have unveiled a new, senior management structure today, as they continue to remain bullish about their prospects.

Reporting to chief executive, Rob Woodward, will be the likes of director of content, Alan Clements, and George Watt, chief financial officer.

Some of the personnel have occupied their posts for a while.

The full line-up reads:

* George Watt, CFO, stv group plc;

* Anmar Kawash becomes chief operating officer (previously was director of strategy and planning);

* Bobby Hain will be director of broadcast services and regulatory affairs (previously was managing director of broadcasting) providing an increased focus on stv’s position regarding Ofcom’s public service broadcasting Review;

* David Brook, who has worked previously with Channel 4, five and The Guardian newspaper, joins the leadership team on an interim basis as director of programmes and marketing, with responsibility for the stv brand and regional programming;

* David Connolly joins the leadership team as stv’s commercial director;

* Suzanne Burns, HR director;

* Alan Clements, director of content;

* David Archer, MD of ventures; and

* Kathryn Jacob, MD of Pearl & Dean.

According to an interim management statement released today, by stv group plc, “trading continues to meet board expectations and the business is on track to meet its full year 2008 targets”.

For the ten-month period ended on the 31st of last month, stv group plc says:

* Regional airtime sales were up 13 per cent with similar growth forecast to continue in November and December;

* National airtime sales were down seven per cent in line with the ITV Network. Revenues in November and December are forecast to be down 12 per cent.

* Ventures digital revenues were up 23 per cent with the full year expected to be up by a similar amount;

* Pearl & Dean revenues were down 11 per cent with November and December expected to be up 28 per cent. Pearl & Dean has won a major contract with Showcase from October this year, increasing its cinema advertising market share by one third to 34 per cent.

Says Woodward: “We are continuing to perform robustly despite the current challenging market conditions and the transformed stv is now in a financially strong position. With an enhanced management structure in place and well-defined key performance indicators, we remain on track to deliver on our strategy and to meet our KPIs.”