What now for d'Ancona's Spectator?
The magazine's record circulation of 68,500 copies last year was rather masked by foibles of its staff as the magazine became famous as the Sextator.
Mr d'Ancona, who has "great ambitions" for the title, probably wants the Spectator to be famous for the quality of its journalism again.
When Conrad Black appointed Boris Johnson editor in 1999, he tasked him with raising its profile. Six sometimes scandal-ridden years on - that mission has been well and truly accomplished.
Mr d'Ancona, described by one senior colleague from the Sunday Telegraph as "a superb mind and a character of oak", need not worry about its profile.
"Under my editorship, I want The Spectator to adapt its fine traditions as a source of superb writing, news exclusives and wit to a new and exciting political landscape. It will be modern, free-thinking and indispensable," he said today.
Quite how he "adapts" the magazine, including the crucial question as to how supportive it is of Conservative Party leader David Cameron - will become evident in coming months.
Andrew Neil, the Spectator's chief executive, also has great ambitions for the title, which include turning it back into the crucial forum for rightwing political and economic debate, an aspect it was felt to have lost under Mr Johnson.
"If we get more social policy and investigative pieces that break news and scoops of interpretation we can broaden the appeal of the magazine without taking anything away," Mr Neil told MediaGuardian.co.uk recently.
That could mean making the magazine more like the Economist or even the New Yorker with longer stories and lengthier investigations that take more than one week to research.
Mr d'Ancona inherits the magazine at a fortunate time. Its marketing budget is about to increase, and the magazine, which has a circulation of 68,500 - including 8,000 bulk copies mainly distributed on British Airways flights - will add eight more pages in March. This will be a mix of editorial and advertising to accommodate a burgeoning classified section and personal columns at the back.
Sales in December hit 70,000 copies and Mr Neil aims to raise circulation to 75,000 copies by the end of the year.
With a more serious focus, this could be tough ask.
While Mr d'Ancona's appointment garnered a favourable reaction today, both inside the magazine - where some staff have worked with him at the Sunday Telegraph - and outside it, all will want to see how he works alongside Mr Neil, who last month appointed two associate editors to the magazine.
Fraser Nelson, the political editor of the Business, and Allister Heath, deputy editor and economics editor of the Business, joined the magazine as associate editors.
The appointments gave rise to speculation as to what sort of role they would fulfil on the magazine. Both men will have full-time jobs of their own on the Business, will not be a presence in the Spectator office and - as Mr Neil said - "will have to fight for space in the magazine like everyone else".
But Mr d'Ancona was denied the chance to make those appointments, a privilege every new editor likes to enjoy. He will certainly have a number of decisions to make when he walks into the Georgian terrace at 56 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, later this month. One of his first jobs will be to decide if he wants to recruit a media commentator to replace Stephen Glover.
And a massive cultural change to the magazine looms on the horizon if it moves out of Doughty Street, which has become too small, and into an office nearer Westminster.
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