Adrian Chiles replaced as ITV’s main football presenter by Mark Pougatch
• Pougatch to present PSG v Chelsea in Champions League on 17 February
• Pougatch keeps reduced 5 Live role but ITV do not say if Chiles will stay
• Andy Townsend’s contract will not be renewed next season
ITV has abruptly replaced its lead football presenter, Adrian Chiles, in a surprise move that immediately provoked as much febrile speculation off the pitch as any transfer window saga involving top players on it.
The broadcaster said that Chiles, who joined on a reputed £6m contract from the BBC in 2010, would be replaced as its main football anchor with immediate effect by Radio 5 Live’s Mark Pougatch.
Chiles has frequently divided opinion among viewers since his big-money switch to host the ill-fated breakfast show Daybreak, a new chatshow and ITV’s football coverage.
Of those, only his role fronting its live Champions League football, home England internationals and coverage of major tournaments including the most recent World Cup in Brazil remained.
Neither ITV, which pointedly failed to mention Chiles in its press release, nor a spokesman for the presenter would comment on the reasons for the announcement or even say whether he would appear for the broadcaster in future.
However, it is understood -Pougatch will begin his new role immediately and will front ITV’s next live game, which is Paris St Germain’s clash with Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League on 17 February.
In 2013, Chiles earned £4.6m – making him one of the best-paid figures in British broadcasting. But his reputed £1.5m-a-year deal with ITV ran out at in 2014 and he was said to be in talks about a new contract worth £500,000 a year, while also returning to the BBC to present a twice-weekly morning show on Radio 5 Live.
Chiles, 47, has endured a rollercoaster ride since becoming a cult favourite as the engagingly down-to-earth host of Match of the Day 2 and Working Lunch on the BBC.
His rising popularity was reflected in roles as co-host of the primetime The One Show alongside Christine Bleakley and as the host of the Apprentice spinoff, You’re Fired.
But when he switched to ITV in 2010, early reaction from the public and critics to Daybreak was negative and he was axed from his role on the early morning show in November 2011.
Sources at BT Sport, which has been linked with attempting to lure Gary Lineker from the BBC, ruled out making a bid to bring Chiles to its studio in the Olympic Park in east London.
Both BT Sport and Sky have spent huge amounts building rival teams of presenters and pundits, with Thierry Henry last weekend making his debut alongside Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher for the latter.
ITV was known to be reviewing its football plans. It had already announced that Andy Townsend, the former Republic of Ireland international who has been a fixture of its football coverage, and Matt Smith, another of its footballer presenters, would not have their contracts renewed at the end of the season.
Pougatch, an experienced broadcaster on radio and television, will continue to present shows on 5 Live but will no longer be its main football presenter.
“I am absolutely delighted to be joining ITV and to be given this great opportunity,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to working with ITV’s talented pool of commentators and pundits on some of the very best football there is.”
The ITV director of sport, Niall Sloane, said: “Mark is a highly respected sports journalist and an outstanding broadcaster. We’re delighted to welcome Mark to the ITV sport team.”
It was estimated by industry insiders that Pougatch would be on a salary worth less than half that paid to Chiles.
ITV has lost the rights to live FA Cup action to the BBC and at the end of the season will lose the rights to the Champions League, currently shared with Sky Sports, when BT Sport takes over after paying £897m for an exclusive three-year deal.
However, as revealed by the -Guardian last month, ITV is also engaged in an attempt to wrestle the rights to Premier League highlights from the BBC’s Match of the Day from 2016/17.
The Premier League auction process is ongoing, with the live rights due to be decided within two weeks.
Guardian
