Jonathan Ross
In April 2006, Ross, along with other BBC personalities, had details of his fees leaked to the tabloid press. [9] It was claimed at the time by a then unidentified BBC mole, that Ross earned £530,000 (equivalent to £10,000 per show) per year for hosting his Radio 2 show. [10] This was a controversial revelation. For some, the BBC was abusing its dominant position over commercial rivals in paying popular personalities such high fees, and for others debasing its public service remit. While refusing to comment specifically on the leak in line with the BBC policy on the matter, Ross did hint during his radio show that the figure was exaggerated; in addition to this, any pay highlighted as being 'his' would actually be split between himself and his producer/co-presenter on the show, Andy Davies.
The following June, a bidding war was sparked between BBC and ITV for his services. Although ITV were unsuccessful in poaching Ross, it is believed that their bid was higher than the BBC during negotiations. Had the ITV move come off, it would have meant that the network would have poached two of chat's biggest names from the BBC with Michael Parkinson and Jonathan Ross. Ross became the highest paid television personality in Britain, when a new BBC contract secured his services until 2010, for a reported £18 million (£4.5 million/year).[11]
On 5 December 2007, Ross joked at the British Comedy Awards that his salary meant that he was "worth 1,000 BBC journalists". His quip came shortly after the BBC had announced plans for more than 2,000 jobs cuts, and was condemned as "obscene" by the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists.[12]
In May 2008 Ross won the Sony Gold Award "Music Radio Personality of the Year".[13]
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Further reading
- Jonathan Ross: The Biography, Neil Simpson, John Blake Publishing Ltd (31 Jul 2007), ISBN 184454432X
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Footnotes
- ^ "OBE for broadcaster Jonathan Ross", BBC, 2005-06-10.
- ^ Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, November 26, 2004
- ^ Extras - Series 2 [DVD]. Universal Pictures Video.
- ^ Jonathan Ross biography at the BBC's website. Visited January 6 2006. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/ross/biography_jonathan.shtml
- ^ 'Baggy fashion is blamed for trouble at t'mill', Roland Rudd, The Times, 2 June 1988.
- ^ 'Hot enough for another bite at the telly', The Guardian, 13 July 1998.
- ^ 'BBC to ban repeats of Ross versus Cameron' The Times, July 01, 2006 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2251285,00.html
- ^ BBC profile for Comics Britannia
- ^ 'Radio 2 stars' salaries leaked', Julia Day, The Guardian, Tuesday April 18, 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1756028,00.html
- ^ 'BBC unmasks mole who leaked salary details of its biggest stars', Owen Gibson, The Guardian, Wednesday May 17, 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1776263,00.html
- ^ 'Ross to stay at the BBC', Ben Dowell, The Guardian, Friday June 9, 2006 http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1794076,00.html
- ^ 'Jonathan Ross: I'm worth 1,000 BBC journalists', Colin Crummy, Press Gazette, 6 December 2007 http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=39651
- ^ GOLD AWARD WINNER!. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
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External links
- Jonathan Ross at the Internet Movie Database
- Friday Night with Jonathan Ross at TV.com
- Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2
- Interactive video talk by Jonathan Ross on Ealing studios for the British Film Institute
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