Fears for ITV network

Carlton TV chief Michael Green was fighting to keep his job today following a revolt by shareholders who are demanding he quits his £650,000-a-year post by

The almost unheard-of public revolt follows Carlton’s £4.6 billion merger with Granada, which will create a single company to run almost the entire ITV network.

The merger was welcomed by both firms as a way to boost investment in quality programmes.

Carlton is behind popular shows such as Inspector Morse, and Granada is the maker of Coronation Street.

Defenders of Mr Green, executive chairman of the merged company, ITV plc, say the revolt could threaten the future of independent TV broadcasting by leaving ITV plc vulnerable to takeover by foreign companies.

Board meetings were to take place this morning at Carlton Communications’ Hyde Park Corner offices, and Granada’s South Bank headquarters.

Shareholders, led by US institutional investor Fidelity which owns more than a third of Carlton shares, are angry Mr Green did not bow out after the merger was finalised.

The chief executive of ITV plc is to be Granada’s Charles Allen, which means it will be headed by two strong executives.

City guidelines usually demand companies on the stock market have a non-executive chairman who can oversee the chief executive and liaise with investors.

Fidelity has proposed veteran merchant banker John Nelson. But Carlton’s non-executive directors are backing Mr Green.

One, former Boots chairman John McGrath, said: “If they are comfortable with the non-executive directors they should let us get on with it.”

Green’s supporters fear that if he goes, a weak chairman would leave the company vulnerable to takeover, and a new regime would have less interest in developing quality programmes.

It is unprecedented for a big City institution to go public with such a tight deadline. Usually an executive is given the chance to step down quietly with a good pay-off.

But Mr Green, 55, has angered investors. He presided over the failed £1 billion ITV Digital project, and led Carlton through the worst recession in TV
advertising for more than a decade.

The son of a shirtmaker, he was a millionaire at 21. He founded Carlton Communications in the Eighties and saw it become the second-largest ITV company.