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Hardie replaces Mark Wood, who decided to quit the company last September and left at the end of February.

He will take up his role with the ITN, which is majority owned by ITV and also counts DMGT as a shareholder, in the summer.

In the intervening period, Geert Linnebank, the former editor-in-chief at Reuters, will continue to act as interim chief executive.

Hardie was with The Walt Disney Company for eight years, where Disney said he helped expand the number of its TV channels from seven to 26 and boosted revenue from $200m (£142m) to $500m (£356m).

Last month, Hardie added the role of chief executive, Jetix Europe, to his Disney role, executive vice-president and managing director of Disney Channels, EMEA. He is vacating both roles.

Prior to his stint at The Walt Disney Company, he was commercial director at ITV between 1997 and 2001.

Previously, he worked at Procter & Gamble, including three years as managing director, running the European cosmetics and toiletries business.

Hardie's departure from The Walt Disney Company has prompted the media company to promote Giorgio Stock, the general manager of Disney's Italian channels, to take on Hardie's previous role as executive vice president and managing director of Disney Channels, EMEA.

Stock, who has held his previous role since 2005, will move from Milan to London and will report to Diego Lerner, president of The Walt Disney Company (EMEA) in his role as executive vice-president and managing director of Disney Channels EMEA.

In his new role, he will lead the company's portfolio of children-focused, family television programmes, which includes Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney, Disney XD and Cinemagic.