Rufus Radcliffe: television is going everywhere (pic: DB Media Services)
The top TV executive tells TERRY MURDEN how the company is responding to changes in the industry
There are a couple of important milestones coming up for Rufus Radcliffe. Next month marks his second year at the helm of STV, and in 2027 the company will celebrate its 70th anniversary. While he is saying little about the company’s birthday plans, he is keeping one eye trained on what shape the industry will be in by this time next year.
The uncertainty and cutbacks at the BBC and Channel 4, together with the £1.6 billion merger of ITV’s Media and Entertainment business with Sky herald a year of significant upheaval, driven by technology and social media which have influenced viewing habits and the cost base of traditional broadcasting.
STV escaped the consolidation of the channel three network that saw famous names such as Granada and Tyne-Tees brought under the ITV banner. As the CEO of a listed company, Radcliffe is entitled, and required, to say nothing about its continued independence or any predatory interest, though its low valuation could put it on someone’s radar once the board sorts out its rocky trading performance.
He is, however, sure of one thing. TV may be changing, but it’s not going away. “When you see the commentaries around television you would think no one is watching it,” he says.
“TV is not going anywhere. TV is going everywhere. The digital environment means there is significant fragmentation going on, but it also means that there are more opportunities for people to spend time with STV.
“We have over a million people spending time with STV every day of the week so we continue to have huge reach and huge impact, but the way people are watching is changing fast. What we need to do is make sure we are everywhere that they are.”
This fragmentation into various platforms to serve changing viewing habits means it is “a brilliant time for viewers, a golden age which has put them in complete control with so many ways to watch,” he says.
Streaming is a big opportunity and STV Player had a record viewing performance in the first half of the year. “That’s been a really good growth story for us. We are on track for 75m digital video views of STV news every month and we are using YouTube at scale.”
Television may be everywhere, but he’s particularly excited about his new baby, STV Radio, and keen to show me the new studio, tucked away in a corner of the expansive Glasgow newsroom. He says the team who built the station adopted the mentality of a start-up challenger brand, moving from concept to launch within six months.
“I have no reference points of other radio station launches, but that feels very fast to me,” he says. “There is a real can-do attitude which is really infectious.”
Ewen Cameron and Cat Harvey present STV Radio’s breakfast show
STV Radio, targeting 35-54 year olds, launched at the begining of this year as a music station and is currently achieving 139,000 listeners per week, making it the ninth most listened to station in Scotland. The next Rajar measurement figures are due on 28 October. “I suspect our radio numbers will be the second news item after the budget,” he quips.
“We have said that by 2030 we will be reaching half a million listeners every week and so that will become a bigger part of what we do. What we are encouraged by is not only the audience impact but the commercial impact because it is a lower price point than TV and it allowed us to deliver new advertisers into STV. There are 10 brands on STV Radio which have never advertised with STV before.”
The 2030 target for STV Radio is £5m of revenue and £2m of profit and it will be profitable next year, he says. “For a new proposition to be profitable in year two… I have seen many business plans that don’t deliver profitability in that timescale, so we’re really pleased with that.”
If he can pull it off, he will defy the doubters who said that, even in a diverse media age, radio was not the route to find growth.
“Radio is a kind of analogue world,” he says, “but STV Radio is a digital proposition distributed on DAB and IP and smart speaker. We took the decision to launch without an FM licence.”
That was another decision based on changing customer habits. FM accounts for about 30% of all listening in the radio market but they are older listeners, and every month the ratio is changing. The amount of listening to commercial radio is robust and digital creates podcasts and on-demand listening that didn’t exist previously.
For STV it has spawned the successful STV Radio football podcast, which also appears on screen, and offers an opportunity to reach out to new and younger audiences.
Rufus Radcliffe: ‘we’re focused on the future’ (pic: DB Media Services)
Radcliffe, now 53, arrived at STV in November 2024, taking over from Simon Pitts who was credited with strengthening its role in programme production, driving up its news audience and its streaming service, STV Player. Like his predecessor, Radcliffe had been at ITV and played a key role in the acceleration of its digital transformation. He was responsible for the strategic development and launch of ITVX in December 2022.
He was born in Wokingham but grew up in London, and in his younger days had ambitions to become an airline pilot. He studied languages at Oxford and “briefly thought about a career in the Foreign Office”, but after a spell of work experience at the British Embassy in Tunisia he decided it was also not for him. Instead he moved into advertising with McCann-Erickson and JWT, working on a range of accounts including Kellogg, Nestle, and L’Oreal.
He spent 10 years at Channel 4 in a range of marketing roles, focused on the launch of E4, as well as scaling its streaming service, 4OD, rising to marketing controller. Moving to ITV saw him work with mentors such as Adam Crozier and Carolyn McCall. STV was his first CEO posting and “understanding how you launch things and go to market is an important part of being a CEO,” he says.
However, it has coincided with the toughest of challenges in the broadcast sector and much of his energy has been focused on right-sizing and re-directing the business that included the “painful but necessary” changes to its news operations and the loss of 60 jobs across the company.
“We are absolutely focused on the future. We made some decisions that put STV on a sustainable footing. We rolled out the changes on STV News on 13 July and our share of viewing has gone up since then. It also allowed us to accelerate our digital ambitions.”
However, the financial figures have made for grim reading. Total revenue for the six months ended 30 June 2026 fell 27% from £90m to £66.1m, with Studios accounting for the larger part of the decrease, down from £42.2m to £15.5m. The second half will not see much improvement in the bottom line.
Radcliffe explains that the commissioning market is being affected by changes in the industry, at Channel 4 and ITV, which has led to a slowdown in decision making, although there is some protection in the number of returning shows, such as The Hit List and Bridge of Lies.
Longer term, the ITV-Sky deal will leave ITV Studios to operate as a global content business, though Radcliffe does not foresee it having any material impact on STV’s business.
The Hit List is one of the programmes to come out of STV Studios
“ITV has been an integrated producer-broadcaster and now ITV Studios will become a standalone listed business. It has always been a case of ‘best creative idea wins’. We are competitors and that will continue.”
He believes the creative sector is not fully appreciated and is taken for granted. “British creativity is one of the country’s biggest strengths and one of our strongest exports.
“The ability to create TV shows that resonate with audiences internationally is a huge part of the success story of Britain and people should recognise that.
“British creativity is a calling card and for STV it gives us international opportunities for our TV shows. We made a drama called The Witness for Netflix which was not only the most watched drama in the UK for two weeks it was the most watched on Netflix in the entire world. Our ability to create ideas that resonate internationally is something we are very excited about.”
Creativity is also extending to the use of artificial intelligence. “Our approach to AI is that we have to use it responsibly and we are making good progress,” he says. “We have an AI software tool that enables us to have live subtitles on our news at six which we would not have been able to do previously.
“We have got a new advertising proposition we are launching in a few weeks time, STV Adapt for small SMEs, and it will generate an advert at a low cost using AI and it allows us to have more engineering capacity for STV Player so we can introduce new products and features at scale.”
An uncomfortable experience over the past year was facing MPs and MSPs to explain the board’s decisions on the news operations. He was accused at one hearing of not listening to the concerns of local people.
“People have passionate views about news and it is such an important part of what STV does so I completely understand why the changes were scrutinised. But it was the right thing to do and the impact with audiences is really encouraging.
“Restructuring is a difficult part of the job but was absolutely essential. It is about the what and the why. You have to explain to people why you are doing it and that the media landscape has changed. We are not going back to a world where you can rely on viewers coming back night after night, regular as clockwork. It is completely different and STV has to move into that future.
“Today there will be more change than yesterday,” he says. “No one has a crystal ball, but we are confident about the strength of the STV brand and the plan we have.”
PERSONAL CHECKLIST
Birthplace: Wokingham, grew up in London.
Age: 53
Residence: Has a flat in Glasgow but his main residence is in London where STV has a studio.
Education: Oxford University (languages), The Wharton School (advanced management programme)
Career highlights: McCann Erickson, JWT (advertising) Channel 4, ITV (marketing), STV CEO
Other interests
Plays padel. “It’s money for old rope. £70 an hour [for a court]. They use dynamic pricing like Oasis tickets. It goes up and down according to demand. My investment tip is invest in padel.”
Passionate about nature and wildlife. Currently chair of the London Wildlife Trust.
Also a fellow of the Marketing Society and the Marketing Academy and a member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain.
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