Lord Burns of Pitshanger, the former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, was this lunchtime appointed as the next chairman of Channel 4 to replace Luke Johnson.

The announcement came as little surprise, after Lord Burns' name leaked yesterday but is a slight setback for Ofcom which had expressed a preference to appoint a woman.

Nevertheless, Colette Bowe, the chairman of Ofcom, the regulator which leads on making the appointment, said that Lord Burns has "an outstanding record of public service and a real depth of commercial expertise".

Lord Burns, 65, was selected for the job at the top of the state-owned broadcaster ahead of a candidates such as Richard Eyre, the former ITV network chief executive and chairman of GCap Media. The appointment was approved by Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary.

In a statement, Lord Burns said: "I am delighted to be joining Channel 4. This is a time of great change as we experience the impact of the rapid development of digital technology in the communications sector and Channel 4 has a very special and continuing role to play."

Zygos, the headhunters for the job, tried hard to encourage senior female executives to apply, but Dianne Thomson, the chief executive of Camelot or Helen Alexander, the former chief executive of the Economist Group, were among many who proved reluctant.

Lord Burns’s first task will be to appoint a new chief executive to replace Andy Duncan, who leaves next month. He will formally take up his position on January 27, when Luke Johnson, the outgoing chairman, departs after six years in the job. Lord Burns's appointment period will last for three years, but his term could be extended further.

The peer, who was Permanent Secretary to the Treasury until 1998, has little direct experience of broadcasting, although he sits on the board of Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times, and advised Tessa Jowell on the future of the BBC in the run up the renewal of its ten year charter -- although his suggestion that the BBC licence fee should become voluntary was ignored.

After leaving Whitehall, Lord Burns became chairman of Abbey National, which was acquired by Spain's Banco Santander, and subsquently had a two year stint as chairman of Marks & Spencer. At M&S, he facilitated the controversial promotion of Sir Stuart Rose, M&S's chief executive, to the position of executive chairman.