Media Headliner: The man to put The Channel back on the map.(WPP Group PLC appoints David Muir as new chief of dating agency)

David Muir is the new chief of 'WPP's dating agency'. But is the job a stepping stone to the WPP board? Jeremy Lee reports.

While no-one doubts that the qualities of David Muir more than match up to those of Mandy Pooler, the most surprising thing about the news that he's replacing her as the chief executive of The Channel was the fact that the WPP subsidiary is still operational.

So little has been heard of The Channel since the company launched in 2001 that you could be forgiven for thinking that - as happens periodically in large conglomerates - it had been erased quietly from the wallchart of WPP's corporate family tree.

Not so, it seems, and Muir's appointment could mark WPP's intention to ramp up The Channel's efforts, although the man himself is remaining tight-lipped about his new job until he starts in March.

WPP created The Channel when Pooler decided to go part-time and quit her job as the chief executive of MindShare. Ostensibly, it was set up in order to find ways to help integrate WPP's research and media businesses, although some saw it as a way of keeping the highly regarded Pooler working within WPP. She has been employed by the company for three days a week, running a small team.

Insiders describe The Channel as acting like a WPP dating agency, encouraging the holding company's businesses and people to work together more closely.

Or, as a WPP statement puts it: 'The Channel aims to advance thinking and insights on media from across group companies and to develop proprietary tools for WPP's media investment management companies.'