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Geoff Hill appointed Channel 5 News editor

By Andrew Pugh

ITN has appointed CNN International’s director of coverage Geoff Hill as the new editor of Channel 5 News.

The appointment comes a week after ITN won back the contract to produce Channel 5 News from Sky, following Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond’s decision to put the contract out to tender.

Hill replaces former 5 News editor David Kermode, who announced he was leaving the channel in September to join ITV’s breakfast show Daybreak.

In a release ITN said Hill will launch the new service in 2012 and ‘lead all editorial and management decisions to evolve 5 News”.

It added: ‘He will work closely with the 5 News team to ensure a seamless transition from the current Sky operation to the new state-of-the-art newsroom and studio being developed by ITN at Channel 5’s headquarters.”

As part of ITN’s senior management team he will report directly to ITN chief executive John Hardie.

Before joining CNN, where he led the networks content across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Hill worked at ITN from 2000 until 2009.

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He held senior input and output positions at ITV News before rising to programme editor for News at Ten.

He went on to launch and run the 24-hour sports news channel Setanta Sports News as editor-in-chief, leading a team of nearly 60 people.

Hill said: ‘I have had an amazing experience with CNN but the prospect of returning to ITN as editor of 5 News is an incredibly exciting challenge.

‘ITN is the UK’s leading commercial news provider and Channel 5 has a growing reputation as well as ambitious plans. I am thrilled to be a part of this new service from the outset.”

Hardie added: ‘I know Geoff well from his time at ITN where he led a Setanta Sports News team that punched well above its weight.

‘He is a first rate journalist and manager who will lead the transition of 5 News to its new home and work with the talented team to develop its output. Viewers can expect distinctive and quality programmes with Geoff at the helm.”

Hill began his career as a reporter on the Southwark News before moving into television to work on ITV’s London Tonight from 1993 to 2000.

He later joined ITN, first as home news editor for ITV News and then senior news editor, covering the 2004 US Presidential elections, the Israel-Lebanon conflict in 2006 and the London bombings.

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