Former GCap boss Richard Eyre is in the race for Channel 4 chairmanship
FORMER GCap chairman Richard Eyre has been short-listed for the role of Channel 4 chairman, a position Ofcom said yesterday it intends to fill within the next couple of weeks.
The communications regulator is in the final interview stages to find a replacement for Luke Johnson, whose tenure as chairman of the state-owned broadcaster comes to an end in January.
It is understood that Eyre is one of four or five short-listed candidates who will be interviewed over the next week. With stints as chief executive at both ITV and Pearson Television also under his belt, many in the City see Eyre as an ideal candidate for Channel 4, which has traditionally looked for chairmen from outside of the media industry.
He is thought to be competing against Lord Waheed Alli, chairman of Chorion, the company which owns the rights to the Mr Men and Noddy.
Camelot chief executive Dianne Thompson and ex-chief executive of the Economist Helen Alexander are both believed to have rejected Ofcom’s approaches
Existing chairman Johnson is working with head-hunter Egon Zehnder to appoint a new chief executive, to replace outgoing boss Andy Duncan.
News that Eyre could step up as chairman further fuelled talk that former GCap colleague Fru Hazlitt could be in the running for the chief executive role.