The European Broadcasting Union consortium of public-service broadcasters has appointed Noel Curran as its new director general.
The Irishman is expected to take up the role at the beginning of September. He will replace Ingrid Deltenre, who in February announced that she would step down from the position this summer.
Curran (pictured) previously served as director general, managing director of television and editor of current affairs at Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ. He played an important role in the restructuring of RTÉ following the financial crisis that began in 2008.
EBU president Jean-Paul Philippot said: “Noel was the candidate of choice in what was an extremely strong list of candidates. He impressed us with his sound public-service values, his operational experience and his understanding of the public-service media ecosystem within today's rapidly evolving media environment.
“His leadership experience as director general of RTÉ will be invaluable as the EBU moves towards the next chapter in its history. I am confident he will do a very good job for the EBU, for all our members, and for public-service media.”
Deltenre has led the EBU for the past eight years and is leaving to focus her attention on board responsibilities at financial services group Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, cosmetics company Givaudan and logistics firm Deutsche Post/DHL.