He's back!...in 2011
The announcement that Jonathan Ross has signed a deal to present a peak-time Saturday night chat show for ITV1 surprised many TV pundits who predicted that the host would struggle for a big-time gig after leaving the BBC.
His star has fallen far and fast crowed the experts, who said Ross, who will be 50 when the new series starts, would have to eek out a living working for Channel 4 or, gawd help him, even Five.
Ross won’t be on £6 million a year for the new show, which is expected to air after The X Factor, delivering him an inherited audience triple the size of his Friday evening BBC One programme.
But his value as a top quality broadcaster coming on to the market without a transfer fee was recognised by Peter Fincham, the ITV Director of Television, and Kevin Lygo, the former Channel 4 programming chief who runs ITV’s Studios, which will co-produce the series with Ross’s Hot Sauce company.
Both men have a track record in producing entertainment hits and understood that the lewd, Sachsgate Ross was a stale version of a class act who just needed some time off and a new challenge.
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It’s probably less good news for Piers Morgan though – the CNN Larry King takeover deal looks off and a revitalised Ross will be gunning for the Hollywood stars and top politicians that the former newspaper man lured to his ITV Star Stories programmes. Ross finds himself the Saturday night heir to Parkinson again although there will be more to the 18-part series than just celebrity chat.
The only question ITV bosses had for Ross is when could he start? Ross is adamant that he wants to take a year off to write comics, so the new show won’t begin until late 2011.
Ross is “thrilled and excited” by the new challenge and ITV, which has sharpened up its drama recently, has another big signing alongside Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley.
Ross will be allowed to work for other broadcasters and will present the British Comedy Awards for Channel 4. He will enjoy not having daily newspaper scrutiny of his occasional lapses in taste, now that the licence fee is no longer keeping him in crushed velvet suits.
The BBC sacrificed Ross because of a fierce tabloid campaign against his salary and on-air behaviour. By also losing his excellent Radio 2 show, quirky documentaries and helming of Film 2010 it looks like the corporation is the poorer for his departure and ITV reason to anticipate big audiences – plus the odd headline-making controversy.
