Investors

Since joining ITV as Chairman earlier this year, I have been listening to our people across the Company as well as advertisers, investors, politicians and regulators. What I am learning is helping inform the strategic review now underway across the business. It is also putting me in touch with the views and concerns of ITV’s many stakeholders.

Last year, Britain faced the worst advertising recession for at least three decades. ITV came through the recession, and is stronger today, but there are still many difficult challenges ahead. Our business needs to change substantially. But working together as a company, we can achieve that change and create a platform for sustainable profit and growth.

As ITV changes and grows, our responsibilities to our viewers, employees, investors and the wider creative economy will grow too. This report contains examples of how we meet our responsibilities as a business today and how ITV takes active steps to make a difference to people’s lives while it goes about its business of being the UK’s most popular commercial broadcaster.

In making and broadcasting programmes on ITV channels, we are acutely aware that we have the ability to raise awareness, influence opinion and shape discussions. In this report you can find out more about how we maintain the highest editorial and consumer protection standards both on air and online, and how, when difficult and often important issues do get raised, we handle them responsibly, ensuring our viewers know where to go to get more information and support they can trust.

On and off the screen, ITV is proud to play a wider social role, taking part in important campaigns that contribute to the health and wellbeing of our nation. Last year, the programme The Feelgood Factor provided a focal point for ITV’s activity as a founding partner in the Advertising Association’s Business4Life initiative, and a key contributor to the healthy living programme known as Change for Life, partnering with the Government and all parties in Parliament. ITV contributed over £10m of value in kind to the campaign with hundreds of thousands of our viewers getting involved across the country.

ITV is nothing without the creativity and dedication of our people and how we engage with our employees will be a priority in my first year and I hope that the volunteering programme that was relaunched last year to allow our colleagues to use their skills - particularly their creative and media skills – for good to causes they wish to support will go some way in achieving this.

In an increasingly fragmented and online media world, trust is something that we can never take for granted. It is imperative that our programmes and particularly our national and regional news programmes, have the highest ethical standards and report issues responsibly and fairly. We take this responsibility very seriously, and have rigorous systems in place to ensure accuracy and impartiality.

Moving into 2010, I am very pleased to welcome Adam Crozier as our new Chief Executive. I look forward to working with him to grow ITV as a profitable and highly responsible business.

I hope you find this report interesting and useful and I welcome your feedback. The story it tells is about the wider contribution ITV can make to the many communities we serve, alongside our success as a broadcaster and producer of great programmes.