ARCHIE NORMAN, ITV’s new chairman, is planning a root-and-branch shake-up of the broadcaster’s boardroom as well as a strategic rethink that could see it break back into the pay-TV arena.

Norman, the former Asda chairman and Conservative MP, announced as the successor to Michael Grade last Wednesday, wants to inject professionalism and trust back into the boardroom.

Many investors lost faith in the ability of ITV’s directors during the protracted search process, which was hampered by a rift between non-executives.

A number of shareholders have called for a complete cull of its eight non-executive directors. However, Norman is understood to be keen to retain the services of some of them. Mike Clasper, the former BAA boss, and Andy Haste of insurer RSA, are held in high regard.

Norman, who takes up his £300,000-a-year role in January, is expected to slim down the board over time. Four of the non-executives are expected to leave, with at least two new faces arriving.

Sir James Crosby, the senior independent director who faced the fiercest investor criticism, has already announced his departure. Sir George Russell, the deputy chairman, and Baroness Prashar are expected to follow his lead. Some of the newer members also feel bruised by events of the past few months.

Norman will lead the search for ITV’s next chief executive, who may not be in place until June. He is looking for someone with fresh ideas to lead a five- to ten-year transformation of the company. Internal candidates are expected to be considered alongside external executives. Tony Ball, the former BSkyB boss, whose campaign to be appointed collapsed in the summer, is unlikely to be one of them. New names have already put themselves forward in the past week.

Norman is keen to strengthen the business, which under Grade has benefited from the reduction in some of its regulatory burden and a two-year cost-cutting programme.

An improvement in trading, thanks to ratings hits such as The X Factor and the week-long drama Collision, has sent ITV shares 10% higher in the past month, valuing the company at £2 billion. It is the only terrestrial channel to have increased its peaktime audience share this autumn, up 1.8 percentage points to 25.6%.

Despite its free-to-air success, Norman is expected to look again at plans to take ITV back into the pay-TV world for the first time since the collapse of ITV Digital. Grade ruled out a return to pay-TV early in his regime but the deep advertising recession showed up the benefit of diversifying the broadcaster’s income stream.

More recently, John Cresswell, ITV’s interim chief executive, has entertained the idea of switching some of its “family” of digital channels — ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 — from Freeview to Sky and Virgin Media only. That way, it could benefit from carriage fees as well as advertising income.

Beefing up its internet presence and developing non-TV properties are also on the agenda. Online income is up 8% so far this year but at £27m is still relatively small. The company’s disposal of Friends Reunited to Brightsolid has been referred to the Competition Commission.

Norman is understood to believe that ITV should remain in both broadcasting and productions, but try to develop more overseas hits. Despite being one of the biggest producers of TV content in Europe — including programmes such as Coronation Street and Countdown — it is a long way from being one of the most valuable.

Norman will be paid £300,000 annually. He has been allocated 400,000 shares per year for the next three years priced at last week’s value. Sir Crispin Davis and Sir Michael Bishop turned down the job.

Norman conquest, page 7

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