STV chief executive's pay cut 40%

Rob Woodward, the chief executive of Scottish ITV licensee STV, took a 40% pay cut last year to £418,000 as the broadcaster took measures to ride out the downturn. Woodward, who earned £699,000 in 2008, saw his base salary cut by 15.7% from £380,000 to £320,000 in 2009, according to STV's annual report for last year, published today. Woodward's benefits payout remained almost flat year on year at £89,000 and he did not accept a bonus payout. In 2008 he took home a £228,000 bonus. STV's chief financial officer, George Watt, took home £225,000 last year, also a 40% cut. His base salary was cut by 9.8% to £193,000. Overall STV paid out £909,000 in remuneration to its senior executives and non-executive directors in 2009. This was a 31% decrease on the amount paid out in 2008. In 2008 bonus payouts were £356,000; in 2009 this figure dropped to zero. "Our remuneration policy during 2009 was structured to reflect the macroeconomic conditions and downturn in advertising revenue," said a spokeswoman for STV. "In the view of our board and exec team, these voluntary reductions demonstrated our commitment to deliver to our shareholders and were appropriate given the economic uncertainty we experienced in 2009. Our 2009 performance was in line with expectations and trading in Q1 is continuing to improve, however our long term outlook remains cautious." Last year STV called on senior executives to take pay cuts and put a freeze on bonuses. In May last year STV executives agreed to accept a reduction of between 15% to 20% of base salary "in recognition of the need to reduce operating costs during the market downturn". Senior executives also waived performance-related bonuses last year. Overall the base salaries of STV's senior executives fell by 7.5% from £852,000 to £788,000. According to STV's annual report not all executive and non-executive directors took a 15% to 20% cut in base salary. Last month the broadcaster reported a 55% slump in profits for 2009 . • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".