Former BBC controller Peter Fincham is to take over from Simon Shaps as director of television at ITV.
Fincham, who resigned from the BBC in October over the scandal involving a misleading promo of a documentary on the Queen, told MediaGuardian he was excited about throwing himself back into the fray. He will join ITV in the spring.
ITV chair Michael Grade has also agreed to stay an extra year with the broadcaster, until 2010.
The appointment of Dawn Airey, head of global content, and Rupert Howell, the managing director of brand and commercial to the ITV board has set up a three-way race between both of them and chief operating officer John Cresswell to succeed Grade, according to MediaGuardian.
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