Advice: Luke Johnson, the former chairman of Channel 4, has advised ITV to sell its production arm Photo: Reuters As the broadcaster prepares to reveal a rapid rise in earnings this week, Mr Johnson, who stepped down from the Channel 4 role last month, said ITV "should think about selling off production". Mr Johnson said that although ITV's short-term advertising numbers are expected to be positive, reflected this week in the first full-year results delivered by new chairman Archie Norman, there were concerns about whether it could weather future storms. Mr Johnson said: "How strong is the company for a cyclical downturn? Is its economic shape solid? There will be advertising upturns, as there will be from the World Cup, but it could fall back."   Related Articles ITV must find its X Factor to survive Ofcom appoints headhunter to find Channel chairman GMTV presenters face 25 per cent pay cuts ITV mulls suing STV over £22m network fee BBC set for battle with ministers over historic licence fee shake-up ITV investors push for ex-Sky boss to be chief He said the trend in recent years was for advertising revenue – even after periods of growth – to be volatile.[Read more...]