The CEO of Scottish commercial broadcaster Simon Pitts is to step down after six years.
The announcement comes as the channel 3 licensee ended 2023 as the leading commercial broadcaster in Scotland. Its 20% audience share is ahead of (Netflix 12%, C4 11% and Sky 9%).
However, the company reported a sharp fall in profits for 2023, amid the soft advertising market and general economic conditions. Pre-tax profits fell by 69% to £5.3m as total advertising revenue withdrew by 12% to £97.3m.
“Over the last 6 years STV has been successfully transformed into a digital-first media company with a high-growth streaming service and one of the UK’s leading production groups, and we have today set out further ambitious targets for the next phase of profitable growth,” said Pitts.
STV was the most watched peaktime TV channel in Scotland for the fifth year in a row with a viewing share of 21.8%, while its lead over BBC One in peak widened to nearly 3 share points.
The broadcaster mischieviously pointed to the channel 3 licence holder south of the border, ITV, over which it has a lead of 2.3 share points.
Online streams for STV player were up by 28% and consumption by 25%. Registered users were up 17% to 5.7m, beating its 5m target.
STV’s production arm has also enjoyed success with the drama Criminal Record for AppleTV+.
