ALEX BRUMMER: ITV’s boardroom drama

After days of appalling headlines, ITV finally believes it is ahead of the crisis on the bench of the This Morning show.

The appointment of King’s Counsel Jane Mulcahy to investigate alleged predatory behavior by former presenter Phillip Schofield is designed to limit reputational damage to the ITV brand and provide breathing space for CEO Carolyn McCall.

She has a tough grind ahead of her, trying to reverse a 29 percent drop in the broadcaster’s share price in recent months.

The group is eager to take decisive action ahead of scheduled hearings on the scandal by MPs next Tuesday, which may see McCall appear.

ITV also acknowledges that there are banana skins ahead, including possible new revelations.

Everything indicates that the ITV board, chaired by Andrew Cosslett, is behind McCall and that her five-year stewardship of ITV is not in jeopardy. McCall recognized that ITV needs to be a player in the exploding world of streaming and she’s excited to see ITVX grow.

But UK shareholders seem much more interested in buying back shares than in pledging capital to promising but unproven new ventures.

The broadcaster should have earned the trust by the way it has diversified its revenue streams, about half of which comes from studio and production.

One problem for McCall is that the Schofield affair isn’t the first time it’s been thrown off course by screen events.

The ‘suicide’ legacy among participants in the lucrative Love Island has not been completely resolved.

McCall also found himself in the vortex of argument over Piers Morgan’s departure from Good Morning Britain.

Given this series of incidents, one might think that McCall and her executive team had found ways to shield themselves from issues that should have been properly handled by line managers.

One possibility could be to appoint an internal ethics chief.

Broadcast stars have their own deck of agents and are very good at putting the guns on management. The real test will come when the Mulcahy report uncovers evidence of a systematic cover-up.

All this is a huge distraction.

McCall enjoys an excellent reputation in the city for the growth of Easyjet under her leadership and the way she stood up to founder and major shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

Ultimately, McCall will want to be judged on her decision to go ahead with the relatively modest £160 million investment in ITVX. Early indications suggest that, with 3 million people signed up and a wealth of historical programming to call upon, its value will be recognized by skeptical investors.

But she must be careful not to be blown off course by on-screen and behind-the-scenes events before then.

Last mile

The British banks have devised cunning methods to increase revenues.

One is by increasing net interest margins, doing loyal savers a disservice, and the other is by closing branches. Lloyds Bank is at it again, cutting 53 branches from its network, from Newcastle to Paignton.

We are meant to be relaxed about this because 20 million customers use online facilities and because there is a post office within a mile of the closed branch.

This ignores the fact that large parts of the population, including the elderly, rightly suspected of fraud and sole proprietorships, value branches.

Many of us used to think that branches were a place to discuss mortgages, get advice and pick up foreign currency.

No one will be comforted by knowing that a post office is a mile away.

Aside from being a long walk, the network is a nightmare, with crumbling branches and often angry staff dealing with the millions of Amazon packages returned to sender. Chief executive Charlie Nunn needs a reality check.

Cloudy water

There is nothing to dislike about the financial results of alleged polluter Pennon, home of South West Water.

It, like the other water companies, is proposing to load £10bn of clean water investment onto users’ bills, while reporting losses and paying a hefty dividend of £112m.

Is there no humility?