SO farewell to Andy Duncan, who has bowed to the inevitable and stepped down as chief executive of Channel 4 before having to face the elite of the British TV industry at the Cambridge Media Convention today. Channel 4 put out a suitably upbeat statement to mark his much-anticipated departure, with Duncan saying: “By any measure, it's been a great five years.” Plenty of critics would dispute that, and he leaves under a cloud — with the broadcaster rudderless after failing to engineer a tie-up with the BBC's commercial arm Worldwide and doubts about C4's creative direction as it persisted with the lame-duck reality show Big Brother. In recent months, rumours that Duncan had lost the support of the board reached fever pitch. C4 chairman Luke Johnson's Financial Times column on entrepreneurship is always enlightening, and this week's is no exception — given the timing. Johnson writes: “Each board has its particular dynamics and culture. Unfortunately, few sets of managers and non-executives are outstanding — and all too many are not well directed.” Luke, what
could you mean?

* AS well as a replacement for Andy Duncan, Channel 4 is looking for a new chairman as Luke Johnson's tenure runs out in January. There are few obvious contenders to succeed him, so City Spy has a wild-card suggestion. How about Karren Brady? She is already a non-executive director of C4, so knows the business well. She could also be available, as yesterday Brady announced she plans to quit as chief executive of Birmingham City Football Club, which is in the midst of a takeover move. Of course, Brady does already have one important new job — as Lord Sugar's new sidekick, replacing Margaret Mountford on the BBC series The Apprentice. But that would still leave Brady plenty of time for a part-time job at C4...

Ball kicks off a storm at ITV

MEANWHILE, what news of another top job at a beleaguered broadcaster going begging? At ITV, City Spy is told, chaos reigns as some senior executives and board members continue to harbour misgivings about the appointment of Tony Ball to succeed Michael Grade. They're annoyed by the spin operation that was mounted on Ball's behalf and the size of the package the ex-boss of BSkyB is thought to have been seeking. What's also provoking dismay is the thought that Ball's arrival would be followed soon afterwards by several expensive high-level departures. They're wondering if, at a time when it could do with stability, ITV needs such turmoil. And whether Ball is really worth the aggro?

* In Sir Philip Green's office, City Spy hears, the Bhs boss has banned use of the word “recession”. Quite right too.

* WOOLWORTHS, don't you know, would have been 100 years old this November, had it lived. It didn't, of course, but that doesn't stop Shop Direct Group, which brought the brand back, to relaunch it online, from celebrating. How does it propose to do that? Er, reports Retail Week, by giving a free party, complete with balloons, food and pick 'n' mix for every guest to anyone who also turns 100 in November, that's how. Matthew Hardcastle from Woolworths.co.uk says that “every lucky 99 year old with a 100th birthday this November is in for a treat”. City Spy bets they can't wait...

Is the future really Orange?

WHEN rival companies start praising a takeover, you know the public should worry. Here's Vodafone boss Vittorio Colao on the Orange/T-Mobile merger, which takes out one of its biggest competitors and has been vigorously attacked by Which? and other consumer bodies: “Consolidation in the UK will be positive. It does not mean increased pricing.” Hmm... we'll see about that.

* THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, clearly hasn't been listening to his fellow Christian, lay preacher Stephen Green of the parish of HSBC. Williams this week accused bankers of having failed to repent for their roles in the financial crisis. “There hasn't been what I as a Christian would call repentance. We haven't heard people saying: Actually, no, we got it wrong,” he said. But actually, its Rowan who's wrong on this score. Way back in March, God's banker Green, aka the chairman of HSBC, said: “It is clear that the banking industry got it wrong in the go-go years.”

* PROOF, as if it were needed, as
to just how low the collective star
of investment bankers has sunk. Marketing magazine has published its annual survey of the brands we most love and hate, and guess what? The investment banks don't even manage to make the latter. Not surprisingly, many of those that made the first category, such as Tesco, also made the loathed grouping — the so-called Marmite effect. Alas for the investment banks, they dominated the “brands we don't care about” listing. UBS, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs all feature prominently — despite spending fortunes on promotional campaigns. Says Marketing: “The real concern for marketers is avoiding consumer indifference. Far worse than a brand that polarises opinion is one that fails to ignite any interest at all.” Ouch.

* FOR the record, the most hated brand is McDonald's and the most loved is Cadbury (Kraft please note).

* MORE than 300 investors and analysts piled into the Sanford Bernstein-hosted Cadbury conference at the Grosvenor House hotel yesterday, expecting furious, rousing words from chief executive Todd Stitzer attacking the Kraft bid. But, citing UK takeover rules, there were none. All they got instead was the usual Stitzer management-speak. “Looking beyond 2011, we will be well-positioned to capitalise on new revenue growth opportunities, sustain best-in-class margins, blah blah blah,” he droned. Come on, Todd, where's your fire?

* THE Kraft bid could not be better timed for Clifford Chance, which is advising the US food giant. Its New York office has been suffering, with some observers speculating that there was a case for closing it down — such has been the London firm's inability to break into the US legal market. The New York branch has also been hit by several defections. Interviewed in The Lawyer, Brian Hoffmann, Clifford Chance's
co-head of the US mergers and acquisitions practice, has this to say: Last year I was 215lb and this year I'm 155lb. I view the developments in our M&A team in the same way — we're now in fighting form.” Eh?