Ross's £18m BBC deal

Jonathan Ross is to become one of the best paid presenters in the world after negotiating an £18 million deal to stay with the BBC.

The chat show host is due to sign a new three-year deal which is understood to be on top of the £530,000 he earns each year for his Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 show.

Ross, 45, has benefited from a three-way tug of war for his services between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Both the independent broadcasters are understood to have offered Ross £15 million to defect in a move which forced the BBC to first offer him £12.5 million and then £15 million just to host his chat show.

But when the rival channels upped their bids to £18 million each the BBC decided it had no choice but to match their offer so he would continue hosting his Friday night show as well as Film 2006 and Hollywood Greats.

The new deal makes him Britain's best paid host and one of the richest in television history. Ross, whose contract expires in July next year, currently earns about £2 million a year from the BBC for his TV work.

An industry source said: "It is a huge amount of money, but Ross is one of the most popular presenters on television."

Ross, who is married with three children, has not yet signed the deal but the final agreement is thought to be imminent. He was recently named radio broadcaster of the year at the Broadcasting Press Guild awards.