George Entwistle will succeed Mark Thompson as the director general of the BBC, it has been announced.
He was selected by a panel from the BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC, led by chairman Lord Patten.
The chairman has repeatedly stated that the next head of the BBC will have to settle for a smaller salary than the £671,000 earned by Mr Thompson.
Thomspon is expected to stand down from his post after the Paralympics, after eight years in the role.
He is the BBC's longest-serving director general since the 1970s.
His tenure has seen the BBC suffer scandals including the Sachsgate affair, and controversy over the tone of the coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee last month.
The corporation has also seen a series of budget cuts and staff redundancies in recent years.
But Thompson has also presided over successes including Strictly Come Dancing and Frozen Planet, and the launch of the BBC iPlayer.
The new director general's first priority will be to prepare the BBC for the review of its Royal Charter.
The current charter, which expires in 2016, sets out how the BBC should be funded, what it does and how it is managed.
