A spokesman for the broadcaster refused to comment this morning on reports by The Times and The Financial Times that the channel 4 boss will step down from his role by the end of this week having agreed the terms of his departure.
that Duncan's resignation is to be announced "imminently" and that Duncan may use a scheduled appearance at the Royal Television Society convention this Friday "to justify his tenure" at the state-owned broadcaster.
Previous reports have claimed Duncan was due to step down before the end of the year and was negotiating a severance package of £585,000.
board members have lost faith in Duncan due to the "failure" of talks he has led to secure a tie-up between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide.
The strategy was intended to combat the expected damage to Channel 4's future revenues likely to be brought with the process of digital switchover, which is set to remove the broadcaster's advantage of free terrestrial spectrum.
Prior to the BBC Worldwide talks, Duncan and Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson campaigned unsuccessfully to secure a slice of the licence fee. They also rejected a merger approach from RTL-owned rival Five citing Channel 4's not-for-profit public service mission, with Duncan claiming a merger would be like "mixing oil and water".
Previous reports have claimed that Duncan was due to step down before the end of the year and was negotiating a severance package of £585,000.
It is believed that if Duncan leaves his role would be covered by Anne Bulford, the finance director, with numerous names already being touted as a potential successor.
Duncan has been Channel 4 chief executive since July 2004, when he was appointed by Johnson. Johnson himself is due to leave when his term expires in January and headhunters have already been appointed to find his replacement.
.jpg)
.jpg)