BBC News announced Tuesday that James Harding has been appointed director, BBC News and Current Affairs. Harding begins his new role in August.

From 2007-12, Harding was editor of News Corp.’s The Times. He replaces Helen Boaden, who moves to BBC Radio as director.

In a statement, BBC director general Tony Hall said Harding “will give BBC News a renewed sense of purpose as it moves away from what has been an undeniably difficult chapter.” The network has been plagued by the scandal involving the late Jimmy Savile, a former BBC presenter who is accused of sexual abuse.

“I am delighted that James will be joining as the new Director of BBC News and Current Affairs,” Hall said. “High quality journalism sits right at the heart of the BBC making this is an absolutely critical role.”

It’s no secret that television news networks pre-produce video obituaries for celebrities, politicians and other famous newsmakers. Such is the case in the U.K. today where host and former BBC News political editor Andrew Marr hosted a documentary on former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher who died today.

The special, airing tonight on BBC 1, has been ready to go for some time, as Marr has been off the air since suffering a stroke in January. The 53-year-old was released from the hospital just last month and continues his recovery at home.

Marr began his career in journalism on The Scotsman newspaper in 1981. He joined the BBC as political editor in 2000. Marr has hosted a number of history programs as well as his Sunday broadcast “The Andrew Marr Show.”

Britain’s Royal Television Society held its annual awards last night, honoring the best in UK and global television journalism.

CNN International took home the one of the biggest awards of the night with the “News channel of the year” honors. “The Jury praised the channel for its distinctive coverage and energetic and vivid reporting,” the RTS says.

Not surprisingly the BBC took home a number of awards, including presenter [anchor] of the year, news coverage-international and camera operator of the year. ITV and Channel 4 News also took home awards.

The full roster of winners is here.

Jon Williams is leaving the BBC where he was World Editor to join ABC News as the Managing Editor for International News. Williams will begin in March and will be based in New York.

Marcus Wilford, who has overseen the international desk for the last several months, will return to London and work for ABC News as a consultant.

Williams has been BBC News’ World Editor for the last 7 years, overseeing operations in 30 bureaus around the world. Williams led a digital-first strategy at the BBC, adding online coverage and eyewitness reporting from around the world.

As we told you earlier in the week, BBC News has moved into its new Central London headquarters. And along with the new building, newsroom, set and graphics, comes new theme music which was recorded at London’s historic Abbey Road studios.

WATCH:

Ten years in the making at a cost of of £1.04 billion pounds ($1.67 billion), BBC News launched from its new home at the revamped Broadcasting House in central London. The state of the art facility — as we’ve been told several times — began with the program “GMT” at 7amET, NoonGMT.

The New Broadcasting house includes a staff of 6,000, has three 24-hour TV channels, nine radio networks and 26 foreign language services.

In the clip after the jump, watch the final few seconds of the old and the first couple minutes from the new state of the art facility. Did you hear it’s state of the art?

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At precisely Noon on Monday, BBC World News will debut from new state-of-the-art HD studios in the BBC’s new London headquarters.

Peter Horrocks, director of BBC Global News, writes in a staff memo, obtained by TVNewser, “Every aspect of how the channel is put together has been reviewed: there’s a new schedule, new title sequences, new junctions, refreshed music and a new top-of-the-hour countdown showcasing how presenters and correspondents ‘live the story.’”

Horrocks adds, “there will be changes to journalism with significant investments in newsgathering and production. The channel will truly be ‘the World’s Newsroom.’”

BBC World News is available in more than 350 million households worldwide including about 25 million in the U.S. following a deal with Time Warner Cable last month.

Here’s more on the new schedule. And take a look at the the new studio which is part of the redeveloped BBC Broadcasting House:

Time Warner Cable has inked new distribution deals with BBC America and the BBC’s 24-hour cable news channel BBC World News. The deal expands BBC America’s distribution in Time Warner Cable households, and adds BBC World News to the company’s digital basic package.

When it launches on Time Warner Cable, BBC World News will be available in over 25 million U.S. homes, and 350 million worldwide. There has been a push for adding more independent cable news channels in recent years. Al Jazeera English drew critical acclaim for its coverage of the Arab Spring, but was unable to turn that into U.S. distribution. BBC World News fits the bill as a serious news channel, that is independent of the U.S. media conglomerates.

“We are really pleased by the growing demand in the US for a global news network which is both non-partisan and non-sensational in approach,” said Jim Egan, the COO  of BBC Global News. “BBC World News is about serious news; with on the ground reporting and analysis from different parts of the world and a mandate to inform and provide a balanced view. We know that audiences around the world value the channel’s distinctive world view and we are pleased that more US viewers now have access to it.”

More information below.
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The BBC’s director general George Entwhistle resigned today after just 54 days on the job. The resignation comes a week after a report on the BBC’s premiere news program “Newsnight” which falsely implicated a former politician in a child abuse scandal. A statement from Entwhistle outside the BBC’s headquarters in London:

In the light of the fact that the director general is also the editor in chief and ultimately responsible for all content, and in the light of the unacceptable journalistic standards of the Newsnight film broadcast on Friday 2 November, I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down from the post of director general.

Entwistle, who took over for Mark Thompson who is the new CEO of The New York Times, has also had to deal with controversy over the investigation into former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, who may have abused as many as 300 people over a 40-year-period. In that case “Newsnight” is accused of withholding a story on the matter.

Appearing at Entwhistle’s side during his public statement, BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said, “This is undoubtedly one of the saddest evenings of my public life.”

A BBC reporter has apologized to Buckingham Palace after reporting something that Queen Elizabeth II told him. In the United Kingdom, unlike the U.S., the Queen is not supposed to have any political opinions. She told the reporter, Frank Gardner, that she was “pretty upset” about a radical Islamic cleric, and wondered whether there wasn’t some grounds to arrest the cleric or not.

The New York Times reports on the fallout:

It is considered a shocking breach of etiquette to reveal what, if anything, the queen tells you, especially when it comes to political views, which she is technically not supposed to have. The BBC immediately issued an abject apology, saying that the correspondent, Frank Gardner, was completely out of line.

“The conversation should have remained private, and the BBC and Frank deeply regret this breach of confidence,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

“It was wholly inappropriate. Frank is extremely sorry for the embarrassment caused and has apologized to the palace.”