Michael Grade's appointment was dazzling, cheered by staff and all of us who care about ITV. He instinctively guarded the programme budget with a broadcaster's passion for which the advertising community has given him scant credit.
The quid pro quo to this determination should have been a decision by ISBA to throw its weight against contract rights renewal, since it presaged the virtuous circle of new revenues invested in audience building.
Instead, hobbling a unique advertising asset to win a couple of years of cost advantage is Lilliputian in its vision. Mass advertising is an endangered species, a fact that should surely have featured larger in advertisers' policy.
However, the new chief executive cannot blame customers any more than the economy for the shape of the company.
She/he must change the culture to deal with both. ITV needs a new attitude - to think like a start-up.
Build the budget for a diversified modern media company from zero up, not from the status quo down. Guard the cash - replace the limos with Oyster cards, cut out the million- dollar salaries and venture forward into new revenue fields. Ship in some fresh heads to the board and down-age it. In short, stop thinking like a good old free-to-air broadcaster.
Define the shape of ITV's future digital footprint around a brief to increase the range of the company's products for those who don't watch traditional telly.
It's a growth market and ITV is still a hell of a springboard for new ventures. Friends Reunited remains the platform to create the Facebook for Middle England, but without such adaptation it's just an unrelated business. I wouldn't give
up on this. And who says ITV can't do pay-TV?
Yes, the debt is ghastly and the pension obligations fearsome. But many long-established media companies carry similar burdens. The regulatory constraints remain significant, but Ofcom is alive to the problem and has conceded gracefully to many of Grade's arguments.
The company owns some highly enviable intellectual property; it's still welcomed in more than 70% of UK households every week - most brands yearn for such relevance. And annual revenues comfortably exceed a billion and a half.
It's an exceptionally challenging brief, but that is a hand you can work with.