The newspaper said Mr Thompson, 48, could "reflect on a job well done" over the past year.

He had seen "the licence fee secured for the next 10 years, external regulation of the BBC rejected, and the government's largely favourable white paper" on the corporation's future.

But it added that with more than 1,100 job cuts in the past 12 months, the BBC "might be a lean operation, but that doesn't make it a happy one".

Mr Jobs had "transformed the music industry and in the process created a whole new demographic - the 'iPod generation'", the Guardian said.

His company had a turnover of $17.3bn (£9.5bn) in the last financial year.

Rupert Murdoch, who controls The Sun and The Times newspapers and satellite broadcaster BSkyB, is in third place for the second consecutive year.

Having purchased community website MySpace and spoken of the importance of emerging digital technologies, he is describesd as being "one of the biggest media moguls to predict such radical change".

It claims he "virtually ignored the web when it first flourished in the late '90s", however, so now "it is catch-up time" for the American citizen.

Also on the list is ITV chief executive Charles Allen at number six, with BBC chairman Michael Grade one place below him.

The top print editor is the Daily Mail's Paul Dacre at 10. Jonathan Ross is the highest-ranked presenter at number 19.

Mr Thompson's success on the survey contrasts with that of his predecessor as BBC director general, Greg Dyke.

Now chairman of media company Hit Entertainment, he is at number 100.

Six judges chose the final list, including Guardian Unlimited editor-in-chief Emily Bell, former Walt Disney Television executive Paul Robinson and ex-BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey.