44 executive summary theibcdaily The news innovators Excellence in TV news By George Jarrett I
n his three years at the helm of news organisation ITN, John Hardie has seen a company go from crisis to arguably the best shape for 25 years. “It’s been a tumul- tuous time,” he says. “In 2009 ITN was losing money. It had a pension deficit overhanging, and was frankly a bit demoralised. Since then we’ve digitised our entire archive, seen a rapid expansion in our documentary production business and the emergence of new digital markets. But the corporate ethos has remained unchanged - excellence in TV news.” Hardie’s passion for television was sparked when he ran student TV at Glasgow University as an undergraduate. He came to his career dream via fourteen years at Proctor & Gamble then four years as marketing and commercial director for the ITV Network, during which he struck the deal for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? “From there I went to Disney and ran the TV operation in Europe. We started off in nine million households with revenues of $200m, and by the time I left we were in 45 million homes with revenues of $450m.”
In conference after confer- ence, year after year Hardie has heard the mantra that TV as we know it is finished, that channels won’t matter. But he doesn’t believe a word of it. “Regardless of killer news apps in smartphones and tablets, people like to sit down and watch a properly organised bulletin,” he argues. “It is to do with trust, and in the post- Leveson Inquiry [the high profile review into
People like to watch a properly organised bulletin. It is to do with trust, and in a post-Leveson world that is more
important than ever
press ethics in the UK] world that is more important than ever. “ITN will put the day in context.
We will order the news. We will highlight the important facts. We will give balance. If people want to pick up breaking news on the bus to work, we had better have apps and services to mobiles that are the most competitive.” What advice would Hardie give
to broadcasters trying to resolve this type of issue?
“I would advise taking time, and being consistent. There can be a temptation to go for the hot new thing, but this might require changes in working practice,” he says noting that the most pressing thing in his in-tray is the timing of ITN’s migration to HD. He has the consideration of ITN’s two main clients, Channel 4 and ITV, to balance.
John
Hardie CEO, ITN Region: UK
“Clearly technology partners for major systems and hardware supply are important,” he says. “That is something you need to plan through for the longer term. “At ITN, the use of technology has been massively effective. We can deliver a product which is better than we’ve ever done before, with far fewer man-hours by the smart application of technology.”