This blog will be updated throughout ITV's process to find a new chief executive.
The story of ITV's hunt for Charles Allen's successor together with the debate about the very future of the broadcaster has often provided better drama than anything normally seen on its main channel on a Sunday evening.
The saga of whether the chief executive's job will eventually end up with Stephen Carter and whether his old firm, NTL, will end up with ITV beats Heartbeat any day.
ITV's most recent storyline began back in June, when speculation mounted over Allen's future at the broadcaster, with MediaGuardian.co.uk the first to predict he would go when he did .
Shareholder pressure slowly grew over ITV's poor ratings and advertising performance, despite Allen imposing cuts on the broadcaster and trying to return value to shareholders.
Speculation on Allen's future coincided with that of former Ofcom boss Stephen Carter, who announced he was stepping down from the regulator at around the same time. The pair's futures immediately became interlinked.
The pressure on Allen begin to mount at the end of July with a rash of stories such as this in the Daily Telegraph about his future.
Allen eventually confirmed his departure in August, with the story immediately moving on to who would be his successor would be with MediaGuardian installing Carter as the favourite.
Johnston Press chairman Roger Parry was the first to officially throw his hat in the ring while ITV confirmed it had appointed the Zygos Partnership as its headhunters in mid-August .
The first denial of interest in the job came from former BSkyB chief executive Tony Ball in The Times.
Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan also ruled himself out early on in Broadcast magazine, although he resurfaced again in Broadcast two months later as a potential candidate again, despite furious denials from ITV that he had been approached.
Former Channel 4 chief executive Michael Jackson also denied he was interested although his name is still linked with the job.
ITV board member Mike Clasper's name emerged at the beginning of September in a piece in The Independent although he ruled himself out a month later.
United International Pictures chief executive Stewart Till - said to still be on the shortlist - was first mentioned in the middle of the month.
Carter's immediate ability to take on the ITV job was given a set-back in the middle of September when it was confirmed he would be held to his Ofcom gardening leave until the end of February although he remains the front runner.
Endemol creative director Tim Hincks emerged as a contender earlier this month.
The length of time the chief executive process taken has worried some investors although ITV insiders say the search has taken less time than Ofcom and the BBC did in finding their new leaders.
An added twist was given to the search when it emerged that Channel 4's director of television Kevin Lygo was being actively courted to move to the broadcaster as part of a new "dream team" management structure alongside Carter.
ITV's board met on Monday when it was reported they reviewed a shortlist of candidates, according to the Financial Times, while further news emerged that there were two lists of names being looked at.
The confirmation that NTL had approached ITV for a potential tie up - exclusively revealed by MediaGuardian.co.uk - further added intrigue to the saga with claims the broadcaster might have been dragging its feet over finding a new chief executive because it knew something might be in the offing.
