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John Hardie's smile is so broad it might have been drawn on by a

Walt Disney cartoonist. At first sight, the events of last week could

also have come straight out of a Disney film: ITV's noble but

battle-weary marketing and commercial director, abandoned by his

charismatic leader (Richard Eyre) then passed over for ITV's chief

executive post, finally lands dream job as managing director/senior

vice-president of Walt Disney branded TV for Europe and the Middle

East.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Hardie, 39, sees himself as more of a Buzz

Lightyear, the optimistic upbeat hero of Toy Story, than Cinderella-like

victim. In his view, his experiences of the past four years at ITV, and

in particular the past 18 months, have been an invaluable training

ground for landing his new job.

"I probably enjoyed the past 18 months more than the first two years. I

was perfectly happy working with Richard, but because I was able to fill

his shoes in some parts of the job with advertisers and ITV companies it

gave me a lot more opportunity to grow."

Hardie joined ITV in 1997 as part of Eyre's dream team with almost no TV

experience - he was previously a P&G lifer who had risen to be managing

director, Europe, for cosmetics and toiletry brands.

Four years on, he is credited with having done a difficult job well.

Mick Desmond, chief executive of Granada Enterprises, says: "He has done

a sterling job in two areas. First, in giving ITV real continuity both

in on-screen promotions and off-screen advertising and adopting a more

risk-taking approach to promotions; second, in managing bodies such as

ISBA and the IPA."

Rupert Howell, former president of the IPA and founding partner of ITV's

advertising agency HHCL, agrees. "He did a really good job in stepping

up to be the public face of ITV, he really connected with clients."

However, some industry sources question how well Hardie was treated by

ITV. As a contender for the chief executive role he was kept waiting

months before finally being told he hadn't got the job. More recently he

is said to have been left out of the loop on decisions such as the

appointment of Mother as creative agency for ONdigital and ITV

Sport.

Hardie refuses to bad mouth ITV and says had the Walt Disney job not

come up he would have been happy to stay put. Any attempt to present his

new position as something of a consolation prize, a sort of second best

to the top job at ITV, is to seriously underestimate the scope of the

role. Responsible for Disney's branded TV output - both the Disney

pay-TV channels and Disney-branded programmes across Europe and the

Middle East, Hardie will head a division of 350 staff with a turnover

running into hundreds of millions of dollars, making its Walt Disney's

biggest business outside the US .

According to Hardie's new boss David Hulbert, the president of Walt

Disney TV International, the role involves general marketing strategy,

responsibility for the growth of subscriber revenues from Disney's

existing pay-TV channels, overseeing plans for new channel launches and

managing the production of over 40 Disney branded shows - such as Diggit

on GMTV - in 24 countries across the region. "He will be the main

custodian of the Disney brand presence on TV in the region with tough

bottom line commitments to meet and execute," says Hulbert.

He adds that Hardie, who was appointed after a lengthy search, met the

job spec on a number of criteria. "He is a very competent general

manager, he's a great builder of teams and as a result of his experience

at ITV and P&G, he understands TV and brands very well."

Having been approached for various advertising agency and dotcom roles,

Hardie describes the job at Disney as "a spookily good fit". He says:

"It's the right kind of company with the right kind of ambition and

being able to run not only a broadcasting organisation, but a production

business, is particularly appealing to me."

In addition - although Hardie does not say this - unlike ITV, where the

focus is on managing decline in a fragmenting market, his new role

involves managing a growth business, still in its infancy. Last year

subscriber numbers in Hardie's region grew by 30%. "It has all its

potential ahead of it," he says.

Hardie sees two key challenges to his new role. The first is to make the

Disney Channel the pre-eminent family entertainment broadcaster and one

of the few definite channel choices in pay-TV.

The second is to strike a balance between Disney's global heritage and

strength tailored to local cultures. "The idea is that you watch Disney

for what it's great for, fantastic animation, great brands, having

children enthralled, at the same time as thinking this is something

relevant to me in my country."

The comparison he uses is McDonald's. "I admire the way it has

maintained the international brand integrity of McDonald's in this

country and yet you don't think of it as distant. As Disney builds in

the markets across Europe, it isn't a bad analogy for us to be totally

Disney and yet totally comfortable and connected with the local

culture."

BIOGRAPHY

1993-1994

Global category manager, Oil of Ulay Cosmetics

1994-1996

General manager, The Ellen Betrix Company, Germany

1996-1997

Managing director, Europe (cosmetics and toiletries), Procter & Gamble

1997-2001

Marketing and commercial director, ITV

2001-present

Managing director, Walt Disney branded TV, Europe and Middle East