UTV shareholders register protest

A significant number of shareholders in UTV Media, the owner of the UTV commercial channel in Northern Ireland, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the company’s management by voting against its executive remuneration plan and abstaining in a vote to re-elect CEO John McCann.

Some 35% of stockholders voted against the remuneration programme and abstained from the CEO vote, while the same number voted against the re-election of another director.

The revolt has been linked to the board’s decision last year to oust longstanding UTV chairman and 8.2% shareholder John McGuckian, after which two non-executive directors resigned in protest. McGuckian was also a director and shareholder in TVC Holdings, which has an 18% stake in UTV.