Evan Davis to replace Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4's PM

Evan Davis will replace Eddie Mair as the new host of BBC Radio 4's PM show.

Davis, who has hosted Newsnight on BBC Two since 2014, confirmed his new appointment on Twitter

"Having survived several years of people saying 'You're not as good as Jeremy Paxman', I now look forward to people saying "You're not as good as Eddie Mair," he joked.

Davis will begin presenting PM at the end of October.

Mair left the programme in July after more than 30 years at the BBC, to start a new role presenting LBC's drivetime show.

• Eddie Mair goes head-to-head with PM programme on new show

PM, which is broadcast at 17:00, is an afternoon news and current affairs programme which reports on breaking stories and the day's headlines.

Before joining Newsnight, Davis was a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He is also the presenter for BBC Two's Dragon's Den and currently hosts weekly business discussion programme The Bottom Line on Radio 4.

Before joining the Today programme in 2008, Davis was the BBC's economics editor.

Prior to the announcement, BBC media editor Amol Rajan took the unusual step of confirming he had been in talks for the role.

He said he was tweeting about the negotiations in order to prevent other outlets from misreporting him as the new presenter.

"I was sounded out about it, but in several conversations with the boss class we agreed that it wasn't right for me or, more importantly, for our ultimate bosses, the licence fee payer," he said.

"Plus, there are clearly a lot of people who would be infinitely better."

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