ITV appoints Simon Farnsworth as chief technology officer

Simon Farnsworth

UK broadcaster ITV has hired Simon Farnsworth as chief technology officer.

Farnsworth will join ITV from news publishing company News UK early next year, reporting to chief financial officer, Chris Kennedy.

In his new the role, he will be tasked with leading the group’s wide technology strategy, overseeing infrastructure, tech architecture and innovation as part of ITV’s digital transformation, and will sit on the Management Board.

Farnsworth currently serves as CTO at News UK where his responsible for leading the technology strategy across the company’s businesses.

He also worked in the same role at Warner Bros Discovery’s Broadcast Technology and Operations division where he was in charge of the delivery of all Discovery’s Video Products to all its platforms globally.

Commenting on his new role, Farnsworth said : “I’m really excited to be joining ITV, an amazing brand at the forefront of both UK and global entertainment.  As CTO I look forward to building and aligning a technology strategy that allows ITV to continue the momentum that it has built through its digital transformation and the launch of ITVX and working with the technology teams.”

Carolyn McCall, ITV CEO added: “Technology is such a critical part of our company and key to ITV’s ongoing strategy and business objectives. The success of ITVX and Planet V, our programmatic video advertising platform, highlights the importance of technology for both our viewers and advertisers and Simon has a proven track record of delivering tech innovation and furthering its capabilities. We are really looking forward to working with him when he joins ITV to super-charge the next stage of our development in this area.”