Hall replaces Entwistle as Director General of BBC

LONDON: The British Broadcasting Corporation named Royal Opera House Chief Executive Officer Tony Hall as its director general, replacing George Entwistle who quit after the public broadcaster was criticized for its handling of a sex abuse scandal.

Hall will start in early March and will be paid 4,50,000 ($7,18,000) a year, the same salary that Entwistle was awarded, the BBC Trust said in a statement on its website on Thursday.

Hall will have to oversee two investigations related to sexual-abuse allegations against TV host Jimmy Savile. The star, who died last year, may have been involved in the abuse of more than 300 people as far back as 1959.

Hall was head of BBC News and Current Affairs from 1996 to 2001 and was responsible for introducing BBC News Online. He is currently deputy chairman of Channel 4.

"As an ex-BBC man he understands how the corporation's culture and behavior make it, at its best, the greatest broadcaster in the world," BBC Trust Chairman Chris Patten said.