Former ITV executive Rufus Radcliffe will take up the post of chief executive officer at STV Group in early November, taking over from Simon Pitts.

Rufus Radcliffe joins STV from ITV where he was a member of the executive committee and more recently managing director of streaming, interactive and data. He was responsible for the strategic development and launch of ITVX in December 2022.

During his 13 years at ITV, Radcliffe also held the positions of chief marketing officer and group marketing and research director.

Prior to joining ITV, he spent nine years at Channel 4, culminating in his role as controller of marketing, during which time the business launched E4 and the channels’ first streaming service, 4OD.

Chair of STV Group Paul Reynolds said: “The Board is delighted to welcome Rufus to lead STV following a competitive selection process involving some of the best leadership talent in the UK media industry.

“We now embark on the next phase of STV’s exciting growth journey as a digital first, content-led business and Rufus brings with him a rare breadth of strategic and operational expertise from his previous significant industry roles. We very much look forward to working with him.”

Radcliffe added: “STV is a great brand with an enviable track record of making high quality, must-watch content and has a strong relationship with viewers and advertisers. I’m thrilled to be joining and cannot wait to work with everyone at STV to build on the tremendous success and growth of the past few years.”