A sudden boost in the ratings has made Nigel Pickard's job as ITV's director or programming seem a little less like a poisoned chalice. But he still has an image problem.

Heartbeat spin-off The Royal has not only earned ITV Sunday night superiority in the ratings, but also given Nigel Pickard good reason to smile.

This nostalgic 1960s-set hospital series has boosted the commercial channel's audience, proving just what the doctor ordered in the feel good slot.

It's a good omen as Pickard moves into his office at ITV Network Centre on Monday as the new director of programming. Executives are betting on him being the man who can cure the ills of ITV. A job that seemed like a poisoned chalice when he was appointed several months ago, after other higher profile candidates dropped out of the race, now seems more "do-able". Then, in the words of industry newspaper Broadcast, his mission resembled the impossible variety.

A series of ratings hits has helped boost ITV's audience share since Christmas, although BBC1 is still ahead. At least the alarming decline has slowed down, much to the relief of executives and advertisers.

The much talked about Michael Jackson documentary was watched by more than 14 million viewers, around half the TV audience. The first episode of The Royal captured a massive 11 million viewers, and another series has already been commissioned. When killer Richard Hillman struck again in Coronation Street, the soap scored its highest ratings for years and took the top five spots in the charts.

Former BBC Children's Television boss Pickard was an unexpected choice as ITV's saviour. There were worries about his lack of experience in areas other than children's programming. His predecessor, David Liddiment, was much more of an all-rounder.

Pickard began his career at Southern TV in Southampton as a film editor, floor manager, trainee director and then assistant director. Thirteen years later, in 1986, he was appointed controller of children's and family programmes at Southern's successor, TVS.

After working as controller of entertainment and drama features at Scottish TV, he joined the Family Channel, where he served first as director of programmes and then general manager. In 1997, he oversaw the launch of Challenge TV and other original production for Flexitech channels. His greatest successes have been in children's programming. As controller of children's and youth programmes at ITV from 1998, he commissioned SM:TV with Ant and Dec, the show that broke the BBC's monopoly on Saturday morning shows.

When he moved to the BBC for the first time in 2000, he had to find a programme to win back viewers as controller of CBBC. He axed Live And Kicking, only to see the replacement, The Saturday Show, struggle. On a brighter note, he oversaw the launch of the BBC's two new children's channels, CBBC and Cbeebies.

Now Pickard's immediate problem is to win back viewers to ITV and, as one executive put it, to stop the word "beleaguered" being attached to ITV every time anyone writes about it.

He's already been given an extra £100m to spend on drama which, along with large chunks of soap, has become the lynchpin of the schedules.

Problem areas still remain. The revamped Crossroads has only been back a month but already poor ratings are causing rumours of its imminent demise. The Dynasty-style makeover and the 5pm time slot have seen audiences slump to just 1.5 million. Even if it's not axed, a move to late night or early afternoon seems inevitable.

Daytime programmes also need pepping up. This Morning has never recovered from the departure of Richard and Judy, and recent publicity surrounding host John Leslie - now replaced by Philip Schofield - did nothing to inspire confidence in the show.

Factual shows such as Pop Idol and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here have done well in the ratings, but led to accusations that ITV has dumbed down factual output by putting the emphasis on celebrity and sex-led shows.

More immediately, Pickard has to find a new controller of children's and youth programmes after Janie Grace handed in her notice ten days before his arrival. CITV has fallen behind rival CBBC and had its budget cut by a quarter over the past year.

No one can predict what Pickard's approach will be. Much has been made of the contrast between his looks, bearded and open-shirted, and the suit and tie appearance of predecessor Liddiment.

The only certain thing is that his style will be different. Nick Elliott, ITV's controller of drama, has talked of his admiration for Pickard's maverick streak. "I know Nigel looks like he has just got out of bed, but he has incredible chutzpah," he said.

Published: 15/02/2003