BBC’s Jonathan Ross Signs New Deal with £3 million Pay Cut
Jonathan Ross, the television presenter and radio host that works exclusively with the BBC, had offered to take a 50% off pay cut from the broadcaster, and it looks as though the deal may be a go. The presenter’s current 3-year deal, which was worth about £18 million, is set to end in June, so he is set to sign a new contract.
With the current agreement, the BBC has been paying Ross £6 million a year, so this will mean that he will only be paid £3 million a year - still making him overpaid. However, Ross is reportedly agreeing to shorten the new contract, making it only a 2-year. A source has said that the pay cut was Ross’s idea, as it is the right thing to do during the economic downturn. The presenter feels loyal to the BBC, they added, as they have been loyal to him.
Ross and the BBC are understood to have had discussions about all of this in the last day, but BBC director general Mark Thompson hasn’t actually signed off the new pay package. He is also not the only television presenter to agree to a pay cut, as Graham Norton will also take a £500,000 pay cut, reducing his pay to £2 million a year.
Ross has been heavily criticized for the amount he is paid, along with a number of other BBC talents. He has also previously outraged Brits after joking at the British Comedy Awards that he was worth 1,000 BBC journalists due to his salary. In other controversies surrounding Ross, he was suspended for three months without pay last year after making obscene phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs using the radio show presented by Russell Brand.
Comments
Got something to say?