STV has appointed a new chief executive as the Scottish broadcaster embarks on "the next phase of its journey".
The Glasgow-based media firm has recruited Rufus Radcliffe from ITV to succeed Simon Pitts, who will leave on October 31 after being at the helm of STV for six years.
Radcliffe will take command of the Scottish broadcaster on November 1 after working at ITV for 13 years where he was a member of the executive committee and then the managing director of streaming, interactive, and data.
The new chief of STV helped lead ITV’s digital transformation and played a key role in the development and launch of ITVX in 2022.
Before ITV, Radcliffe worked at Channel 4 for nine years where he helped launch E4 and the channel’s first streaming service, 4OD.
Paul Reynolds, chair of STV Group plc, said: “The board is delighted to welcome Rufus to lead STV following a competitive selection process involving some of the best leadership talent in the UK media industry.
“We now embark on the next phase of STV’s exciting growth journey as a digital first, content-led business and Rufus brings with him a rare breadth of strategic and operational expertise from his previous significant industry roles. We very much look forward to working with him.”
Radcliffe said: “STV is a great brand with an enviable track record of making high quality, must-watch content and has a strong relationship with viewers and advertisers.
“I’m thrilled to be joining and cannot wait to work with everyone at STV to build on the tremendous success and growth of the past few years.”
Pitts is leaving his role at STV to take over as the chief executive of Global, who own radio stations including Capital, Heart, Classic FM, Smooth and Radio X, next year.
It was also announced Colin Jones will join STV’s board as an independent non-executive director and chair of its audit and risk committee on Monday.
Jones has a background in technology, media, and telecommunications sectors, having served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Euromoney Institutional Investor.
