John Hardie Appointed Chief Executive Of ITN

ITN, the UK's leading independent news provider, today announces the appointment of John Hardie as Chief Executive Officer.

John, 47, joins ITN from The Walt Disney Company, where he was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Walt Disney Television in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In his eight years with the company, John led a period of exceptional growth and profitability for Disney Channels, increasing distribution from 9 million to 45 million households, expanding the number of channels from 7 to 26 and boosting revenues from $200m to over $500m.

Prior to joining Disney, John was Commercial Director at ITV Network Centre between 1997 and 2001, responsible for marketing, on-air promotion, business affairs, ITV2 and internet activities. During this time, he managed all commercial aspects of the network and played a central role in transforming ITV from a regional to a national brand. From 1983 to 1997 he worked at Procter & Gamble, the last three years as Managing Director, running the European cosmetics and toiletries business.

Commenting on his appointment, John Hardie said: 'I am delighted to be joining ITN at this crucial time for public service broadcasting. Throughout the media industry, ITN is regarded as a world-class editorial operation with both an outstanding journalistic pedigree and a strong presence in today's digital environment.

'Globally, it is best known for the superb output of ITV News and Channel 4 News, and rightly so. This award-winning journalism is fundamental to driving the business forward, alongside the exciting new revenue streams ITN is developing for its content.

'It is an honour to lead this great company which plays an essential role in British daily life. My objective is to establish a robust commercial foundation upon which ITN's strengths in news and current affairs can continue to flourish and thrive in the years ahead.'

John replaces Mark Wood who announced his decision to step down from ITN last September and left the company at the end of February. He will take up his position in the summer and, in the intervening period, Geert Linnebank, former Editor-in-Chief at Reuters and a director on the ITN Board, will continue to act as interim CEO to support the senior management team.

Speaking on behalf of the Board, Mike Stewart, senior non-executive director, said: 'This is a fantastic appointment for ITN. John brings the passion, energy and experience to lead the company to ever greater success and achievement. His broadcasting expertise and proven track record of building businesses in the UK and overseas will reinvigorate ITN in this vital next stage of its development.

'The Board remains fully committed to ITN's strategy of providing high-quality news programming to its customers and growing all areas of the business. ITN's diversification continues apace, with new businesses - On, Source and Consulting - each delivering record double-digit growth. John is the ideal person to build on this momentum and expand our range of services to broadcasters, publishers and consumers in the UK as well as abroad.'

For further information, please contact: Sarah Vaughan-Brown - Director of Corporate Communications, ITN020 7430 4387 / 07920 580 529

Tim Burt / Giles Croot - Brunswick Group LLP, 020 7404 5959

Notes to Editors:

About John Hardie John Hardie joins ITN following eight years at Disney, latterly as Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Walt Disney Television (EMEA).

During this time, John turned Disney Channels into a highly-profitable business and the most-watched children's television portfolio across Europe. He oversaw the renegotiation of every distribution contract with satellite and cable companies, coined the new strategy of a tiered portfolio of channels and created the Disney Cinemagic channel. In addition, John's responsibilities included the role of Chairman of the leading Germany TV channel SuperRTL, board member of RTL2 and, most recently, CEO of Jetix N.V.

Previously, John was Commercial Director of ITV Network from 1997 to 2001, where he oversaw the business aspects of Network Centre including the launch of ITV2 and the ITV website. In his earlier career, John worked for Procter & Gamble for 14 years, rising through the ranks to become Managing Director of the Cosmetics and Toiletries business across Europe, responsible for brands such as Max Factor, Oil of Olay and Cover Girl.

John was born in Glasgow on 7 Jan 1962. He was educated at Colston Secondary School and went on to gain an MA (Hons.) in English and Philosophy at Glasgow University. He is married and has one son.

About ITN ITN is one of the world's leading multimedia content providers, producing news, entertainment and factual programming across a range of platforms from television to mobile and online.

Over its 55 year history, ITN has built a strong reputation as the UK's biggest supplier of independent broadcast news consistently delivering powerful, authoritative, worldclass coverage to its core customers, ITV1 and Channel 4. It also produces the 24-hour sports news channel Setanta Sports News.

ITN On produces video-rich news, entertainment and lifestyle content for global brands including the Telegraph Media Group, Yahoo, Teachers TV, YouTube, MSN and all the UK's mobile operators. ITN On's ad-funded content has an average of 12 million unique views a month and the division's YouTube channels regularly sit in the top five most-viewed.

ITN Source is the most diverse commercial video archive in the world, with over one million hours of iconic footage and creative moving imagery which dates from 1896 to the current day. As well as ITN's own news material, ITN Source represents British Pathé, Reuters, Channel 4, Granada and FOX Movietone amongst others.

ITN Consulting is another key growth area for the company, providing technical broadcast solutions to broadcasters worldwide. With a particular focus on activities in the Middle East, its services range from training and programming development to channel launches.

ITN Factual is the award-winning documentary arm which produces entertainment and factual programming for UK and international broadcasters.

Based in Central London, ITN has bureaux and sales offices in New York, Washington, Berlin, Beijing, Brussels, Paris, Sydney, Bangkok, Johannesburg and Tokyo.

For further information, visit www.itn.co.uk or www.itnsource.com