George Entwistle, a contender to succeed Jana Bennett as BBC Vision director, is to take over the job on an acting basis as the corporation begins its search for a permanent replacement.
Entwistle, the former Newsnight editor who is now the BBC's controller of knowledge commissioning and controller of editorial standards for BBC Vision, will take up the role on 31 January. Bennett will begin her new job at BBC Worldwide on 7 February.
It has not yet been decided whether Entwistle will also continue with his current responsibilities or they will be delegated elsewhere.
Entwistle launched The Culture Show on BBC2 and was acting controller of BBC4.
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