Davis's appointment ahead of Newsnight's three incumbent female presenters comes as BBC is criticised for 'gender imbalance'
Evan Davis will switch from BBC Radio 4's Today to present Newsnight, succeeding Jeremy Paxman as the face of the BBC2 current affairs show.
His appointment as Newsnight's lead anchor ahead of the programme's three incumbent female presenters came on the same day that the BBC Trust ordered the corporation to tackle the continued "gender imbalance" in its programmes.
The BBC has faced persistent criticism in recent years over the lack of women in presenting and other on-air roles, a point highlighted again in its annual report for the year to the end of March, published on Monday, which also revealed that "audience appreciation" for the BBC's TV channels had fallen across the board.
The BBC has faced persistent criticism in recent years over the lack of women in presenting and other on-air roles, a point highlighted again in its annual report for the year to the end of March, published on Monday, which also revealed that "audience appreciation" for the BBC's TV channels had fallen across the board.
Davis, 52, will present Newsnight three nights a week with its existing team of presenters, Kirsty Wark, Emily Maitlis and Laura Kuenssberg, remaining on the show and sharing the other two nights.
The announcement ended months of speculation about who might replace Paxman, who presented his final show last month after 25 years in the Newsnight chair.
Davis, the BBC's former economics editor who also presents BBC2's business show Dragons' Den, said he was "terribly sad" to leave Today after six years, which he described as "some of the most satisfying of my career".
He added: "But at the same time, how could I turn down the offer of this role on Newsnight, treading in the footsteps of some of the best television presenters in the business? While it is a scary prospect, it will be an adventure and a challenge, and I hope the viewers will be happy with the result."
BBC director general Tony Hall said Davis was an "outstanding journalist, an extraordinarily clever and intelligent interviewer. He has a wonderful presence on TV. I've got no doubt he will be a really great presence on Newsnight".
Hall also paid tribute to Paxman who he described as an "extraordinary contributor" to the BBC who had "created real moments of discomfort for politicians and others".
Unveiling its annual survey of the BBC's performance in 2013/14, the acting chair of the BBC Trust, Diane Coyle, said the BBC had fallen "significantly short of what licence fee payers expect" in a year marked by controversy over excessive payoffs to senior staff and the £100m Digital Media Initiative fiasco.
The amount of time people spent watching the BBC's four main channels fell in 2013/14, as did levels of audience appreciation for the BBC's TV and radio stations. Viewing of BBC1 slipped 21 minutes to an average of seven and a half hours a week, with people typically spending 18.5 hours a week using BBC services, including online, down from 19.5 hours the previous year.
The BBC's director of television Danny Cohen said budget cuts were partly to blame, as was the scale of success enjoyed by the BBC the previous year, when it screened the London Olympics and the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations. The BBC is on track to make savings of £800m by 2016/17.
Cohen said: "We had a very high score the year before. I think there is no doubt if you take 26% of your spending out [the real terms cut in funding after the 2010 licence fee settlement] you are going to have an impact on how people feel about things. I feel very confident the overall appreciation of our channels will grow."
Despite initiatives to put more women on air, the BBC Trust said analysis of the corporation's output had revealed a "continued gender imbalance" and called for a "co-ordinated plan from the executive to address this as part of a wider diversity strategy". The trust also flagged up an unexplained pay differential although moves have been made to reduce the gender pay gap.
Earlier this month, Radio 5 Live was criticised after it announced that two of its most well-known presenters, Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty, would be replaced by Adrian Chiles and Peter Allen.
Hall, who has announced a number of initiatives in recent weeks to increase the representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic people at the BBC, said: "The controller of BBC1 is a woman [Charlotte Moore], likewise BBC2 and BBC4 [Kim Shillinglaw], and we will keep on hammering away at this.
"I see so many extremely talented women in this organisation, I have no doubt it won't be long before many of them are sitting around the BBC executive table as they should be."
Talent pay was cut by a further £6m, to £194m, a 15% reduction since 2009. The number of senior managers was cut by 8% last year, while the number of top earners on salaries of more than £100,000 fell for the fourth consecutive year.
The BBC said it is "delivering on its commitments", with popular shows such as Sherlock and Happy Valley, despite seeking 26% budget cuts from its UK services up to 2017 following a licence fee freeze and new commitments including funding the World Service and S4C. Hall is also pledging a 4% increase in spending on content and delivery over the next three years.
Davis, who previously worked on Newsnight between 1997 and 2001 and will return to the programme in the autumn, is understood to have been one of four or five contenders who were seriously considered for the lead presenter role. Eddie Mair, presenter of Radio 4's PM, was linked to the job, as was Channel 4 News presenter, Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Ian Katz, the former deputy editor of the Guardian who was appointed Newsnight editor last year in the wake of the Savile and McAlpine scandals, said Davis brought a "rare combination of curiosity, intelligence and mischief to his broadcasting – just the qualities I want Newsnight to be known for".
There will be no immediate replacement on Today, which currently has six presenters after Mishal Husain joined the programme last year. Her appointment brought an end to criticism that the programme had only one female anchor in Sarah Montague in a team that also includes John Humphrys, James Naughtie, Justin Webb and Davis.
In the longer term, Davis's departure could make an opening for the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson, who has long been linked with a presenting job on the Radio 4 breakfast programme.
Today editor Jamie Angus said: "No-one has done more than Evan to define the current sound of Today. All the team and our audiences will miss his endless enthusiasm and original editorial insight, and we all wish him the best in his new role at Newsnight."
