Editing Michael Grade (section)

===ITV===
On 28 November 2006, Grade and the BBC confirmed that he was to resign from his position within the corporation to replace Sir [[Peter Burt]] as chairman, and [[Charles Allen, Baron Allen of Kensington|Charles Allen]] as chief executive, of one of the companies forming part of its commercial rival, [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]. He became executive chairman of [[ITV plc]] on 8 January 2007.

During Grade's tenure, ITV struggled with falling advertising revenue and viewing figures. Upon appointment, Grade announced that his first priority would be to work as a senior partner at ITV Network Limited to improve ITV programming, as well as strengthen its digital channels, [[ITV2]], [[ITV3]], [[ITV4]] and [[CITV]]. On 12 September 2007, Grade announced a controversial five-year re-structuring plan for ITV plc-owned regions,<ref>{{cite news |title=Content is king for ITV's five-year plan |work=The Guardian |date=12 September 2007 |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/city/story/0,,2167318,00.html |access-date=27 September 2007 |first=Graeme |last=Wearden}}</ref> selecting entertainment as the top priority. A major overhaul of ITV plc's regional structure was also proposed.<ref name="Guardian2">{{cite news |title=Unions slam ITV regional cuts |work=The Guardian |date=12 September 2007 |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2167562,00.html |access-date=27 September 2007 |first=Leigh |last=Holmwood}}</ref> The plans would result in the consolidation of the ITV regional news programmes in England, with regions now broadcasting a single service per region rather than multiple, specialised, local services (for example, [[Yorkshire Television|ITV Yorkshire]] would no longer broadcast in separate northern and southern regions). They would also merge fully [[Border Television|ITV Border]] with [[Tyne Tees Television|ITV Tyne Tees]], and [[ITV Wales & West|ITV West]] with [[Westcountry Television|ITV Westcountry]], effectively ending two regions' tenure as independent players within ITV; the proposals have been criticised by [[BECTU]] and the [[National Union of Journalists]].<ref name="Guardian2"/> Any such changes would be subject to approval by [[Ofcom]].

In March 2009, Grade initiated libel action against another television executive, [[Greg Dyke]], and ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper over allegations of improper conduct made by Dyke about Grade, relating to his move from the BBC to ITV in 2006. The newspaper subsequently withdrew the allegations and published an apology, admitting that the allegations had no justification.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/may/01/michael-grade-times-action-greg-dyke |title=Michael Grade: I sued over Dyke piece to protect my reputation for honesty |work=The Guardian |first=Ben |last=Dowell |date=1 May 2009 |access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref>

On 23 April 2009, Grade announced he would be stepping down as chief executive to become non-executive chairman at the conclusion of regulatory reviews into advertising contract rights and digital TV, at some point before the end of 2009.<ref name=BBC2009stepdown/>