Clasper was appointed a non-executive director of ITV in October last year, joining the board this January. He had been CEO of BAA since 2003, but said in July that he was stepping down after the company was bought by Spanish group Ferrovial.
Although Clasper's name has been mentioned in relation to ITV since the beginning of August, The Independent reports today that he has held talks with ITV chairman Sir Peter Burt about the job.
Clasper has no experience as a broadcaster, but he did spend a long period of his career at one of ITV's biggest advertisers -- Procter & Gamble. He left in 2001 after 23 years with the company. This included a stint as advertising director for the UK between 1985 and 1988.
Finding a successor for Allen is proving a challenge for ITV and headhunters Zygos. Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4, ruled himself out in a very public way. His Channel 4 colleague Michael Jackson and former BSkyB chief executive Tony Ball have also said they are not interested.
Channel 4 and Five have already said they will object if Stephen Carter, former Ofcom chief executive, is appointed to the role. Dawn Airey, head of programming at Sky, is one name being bandied about but she has not commented either way.
Roger Parry, Johnston Press chief executive, has said "he would be willing to talk to the ITV board about implementing the business plan" he worked on earlier this year, but has made clear that he is not looking for a job rather an investment opportunity.
Yesteday, Marketing reported that Rupert Howell, regional director and president of McCann-Erickson, had surfaced as an unlikely candidate to become the next chief executive of ITV. Howell refused to dismiss rumours that he is considering the role.
"I'm not ruling myself in and I'm not ruling myself out," Howell said.
Allen is due to leave ITV next month.
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