ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall on Monday turned to her former co-pilot to help reduce the broadcaster’s reliance on advertising revenues.
Chris Kennedy, who for five years was McCall’s finance boss while she led easyJet, will join as ITV’s numbers man in February.
Kennedy joins from software firm Micro Focus, where he’s been tackling the troublesome integration of its huge $8.8 billion (£6.8 billion) Hewlett Package Enterprises takeover since the start of the year.
Before that he was finance chief at tech firm ARM, and was a key player in its £24 billion sale to SoftBank.
His involvement in that deal could spark speculation a long-rumoured sale of ITV is back on the cards.
McCall said he will help on her More Than TV strategy to focus on on-demand streaming, competitions and live events. Kennedy, who succeeds the retiring Ian Griffiths, also spent 17 years in the media industry, working his way up through music giant EMI. His salary will be £660,000 before bonuses and long-term incentives.
He is replaced at Micro Focus by Brian McArthur-Muscroft, most recently finance chief at Paysafe. The tech firm said trading had improved in the second half.
