BBC's television centre in London (Mike Fleming/Creative Commons).

Hall is said to take his new position in early March after acting director general Tim Davie steps down.  

The news comes just over a week after George Entwistle resigned from the job, receiving a full's years pay for the 54 days he held the job.

ALSO SEE: BBC's Director General Resigns

Speaking at a press conference for newly appointed Tony Hall, BBC trust chairman Lord Patten defended Entwistle's payoff as questions came in about the deal.  

WATCH Lord Patten speak at Thursday's press conference.

Hall, 61, was director of BBC news and a candidate for the director general position when Greg Dyke took it in 1999.  Instead he went on to run the Royal Opera House for 11 years -- an organization previously seen as elitist and in crisis.

According to the Guardian, Patten said that Hall was "an insider and is currently an outsider. As an ex-BBC man he understands how the corporation's culture and behaviour make it, at its best, the greatest broadcaster in the world.

"And from his vantage point outside the BBC, he understands the criticisms that are levelled at the corporation – both those that are justified and those that are not. But perhaps most importantly, given where we now find ourselves, his experience as a former BBC journalist will prove invaluable as the BBC looks to rebuild its reputation in this area."

He will be paid the same as his predecessor - £450,000 a year - but substantially less than New York Times CEO Mark Thompson, who left the BBC in September  of this year.  

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Reach Executive Producer Lauren Foliart here.