madcomments

Hytner jumps back in the shark-pool

Posted in Media, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs August 16th, 2007 by Branwell Johnson

So, Jim Hytner is back in the fast-moving, turbulent and currently traumatised world of television, now at Top Up TV. It looks like he just could not keep away despite progressing swiftly through the ranks at Barclays and making his mark with some very left-field marketing ideas for the staid banking sector.

For those who have a cloudy memory, Hytner was once marketing and commercial director of ITV and before that at Channel 5 and BSkyB. He left for Barclays in 2004 and introduced a new positioning strapline “Now there’s a thought” and a strategy of defustication for the customer.

People may joke about the free pens at the counter and the name “hole in the wall” appearing instead of ATM but these were bold touches in a sector looking increasingly out of touch with the man or woman in the street. Hytner was rewarded swiftly with promotion to brand and UK banking marketing director.

But the siren call of television and media has lured him back, albeit in the position of commercial director. The news puts pay to any chance of ITV tempting him back to the empty commercial director role at the broadcaster. Sources say he felt the job was too sales orientated – I’m not sure what the remit is at Top Up TV but I’ll wager it involves sales targets too. Maybe he just didn’t like the lie of the land in production and programming given the current upheavals about faked realty shows and premium phone line cons.

At Top Up TV he is involved in a technology venture competing with many other new players in this brave new frontier of downloaded programmes and DTR boxes, including BT Vision, Joost and Virgin Media. I’ll bet he will be pretty hands on in the marketing department and if the approachable and user friendly strategy he brought to Barclays can be deployed for complicated technology all the better. I’d say Top Up TV has made a great hire in Hytner if only he wasn’t a Manchester United fan…