ITV has unveiled a new management team and changed its structure to help it compete more strongly in the battleground of multichannel digital television.

The group said it had replaced its divisional structure with a number of new roles including: commercial director; director of television; director of ITV production and director of ITV Worldwide.

Finance director, Henry Staunton, and the chief executive of its broadcasting division, Mick Desmond, will leave the company.

The revamp has not directly affected ITV Central.

Managing director Ian Squires, who has also been director of regional production since the Granada merger, will continue in that role.

An ITV spokesman said Mr Desmond's position would be split into two roles - sales and marketing and commissioning and scheduling.

Mr Staunton would step down when a successor was appointed. The management shake-up comes after ITV unveiled strong half-year results earlier this month in which growth in digital channels offset the continued decline of the group's flagship ITV1 channel.

ITV chief executive Charles Allen, said: "ITV is now ready to move into its next phase of growth. The changes mean that all parts of our business will now be able to work together more effectively."

He said the new structure would ensure that "our primary focus is on the needs of viewers and advertisers, in the UK and internationally".

Ian McCulloch, chief operating officer of ITV's broadcasting division, has been appointed commercial director and will be responsible for ITV's sales and marketing.

Simon Shaps, chief executive of Granada, becomes ITV's director of television where he will assume overall responsibility for the commissioning and scheduling of all ITV channels.

ITV's production arm, Granada, which produces much of ITV's programming, will be renamed ITV Production. However, it will retain the Granada brand when making programmes for broadcasters outside the ITV group.

Meanwhile, ITV Worldwide will be responsible for all international production and third party sales. William Medlicott, the former chief operating officer of Carlton International and current Granada finance director will become acting head until a permanent appointment is made, ITV said.