Jonathan Ross chatshow deal shelved by Channel 4

It would have been a sensational return to the broadcaster where he made his name. But Jonathan Ross will now not be taking his chatshow to Channel 4 when he leaves the BBC in the summer , after the commercial broadcaster decided not to go ahead with a deal that would have earned his production company up to £10m. Ross's team had negotiated a deal for him to present 20 chatshows a year for Channel 4 over the next two years. But the deal is said to have been taken off the table pending the arrival of incoming chief executive David Abraham, who is understood to feel that signing Ross would be a retrograde step for the broadcaster, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal. The deal, understood to be worth about £10m in total including production fees, was not exclusive and would have allowed Ross to continue to present shows for other broadcasters. Some at Channel 4 are still hopeful that Abraham can be persuaded of the value of returning Ross to the station. But MediaGuardian.co.uk understands that Channel 4 is under no pressure to make a final decision because no other major UK broadcaster is in negotiations for Ross's chatshow. A spokesman for Channel 4 said: "We continue to talk to Jonathan about working together." A spokesman for Ross declined to comment. Ross may be falling victim to the new senior management regimes at Channel 4 and ITV. Some creative executives at the broadcasters are understood to have been keen to sign him, but met with resistance from their boardrooms. ITV is understood to be far from beating down Ross's door. One industry insider said the ITV director of television, channels and online, Peter Fincham, was "unsure" about whether Ross would fit with the broadcaster. Another senior broadcaster elaborated: "ITV has Paul O'Grady lined up for a prime-time Friday night chatshow this year. He's far more likely to make that post-Coronation Street audience work than Jonathan Ross." BSkyB is also understood to have ruled out negotiating with Ross. There had been some very early interest from within the broadcaster in talking to him, but the idea of even opening talks is said to have been rejected by Sky's senior management. A Sky source said: "We're not interested in reinventing the chatshow wheel." ITV and BSkyB declined to comment. It is a far cry from four years ago, when in a much rosier financial era Ross was the subject of a furious bidding war between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. In June 2006 Ross finally signed a three-year deal with the BBC worth £16.9m, making him the highest-paid – and ultimately the most notorious – TV presenter in Britain. Channel 4, which launched Ross's career with The Last Resort in 1987, was seen as a natural next stop for the presenter when he exits the BBC. The head of Channel 4, Julian Bellamy, confirmed in February – shortly after Ross announced that he would be leaving the BBC after his three-year deal ends in July – that the broadcaster had been talking to him. However, Abraham, the former UKTV boss who was appointed to the Channel 4 chief executive job in January and is expected to take up his new role in May, does not regard the prospect of Ross's return with any enthusiasm, according to sources. Channel 4 is in the process of reinventing itself after taking the decision to axe its long-running reality show Big Brother, which has been a staple of its schedules since 2000. The broadcaster has also axed long-running shows such as Wife Swap and How Clean Is Your House? as part of a process of "creative renewal" under Bellamy . Ross is no stranger to controversy – he once told the audience at the British Comedy Awards that his salary meant he was "worth 1,000 BBC journalists". He was suspended from the BBC for three months in October 2008 after he and Russell Brand left lewd messages on actor Andrew Sachs's answerphone that were broadcast on Brand's Saturday night Radio 2 show. The BBC ruled last year that his Radio 2 show had to be pre-recorded after a series of further controversies . Listeners complained to the media regulator Ofcom that a joke about Hannah Montana was homophobic, and he was accused of not taking an on-air apology about "Sachsgate" seriously enough after he played Fun Boy Three's The Lunatics Are Taking Over The Asylum immediately afterwards. He currently hosts his BBC1 chatshow, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 2 and the BBC1 movie review show Film 2010. Ross recorded his final edition of Film 2010 this week. "In response to a number if queries ... yes, it my last ever film 2010 tonight," Ross said on Twitter. "Sadface. But on to bigger and better things soon." It remains to be seen what Ross, 49, will do next, although he has said he will continue to host the Bafta film awards, which he presented on BBC1 last month, as well as BBC1's Comic Relief and his regular end of year appearances on Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz of the Year, which is produced by his production company, HotSauce, which also makes his BBC1 show. Ross began his career at Channel 4 in 1987 as an 11th-hour choice to host its chatshow The Last Resort. He successfully stood in for Terry Wogan on his weeknight BBC1 chatshow but later Channel 4 shows, such as Saturday Zoo, were less successful, as was his attempt to go mainstream in the 1990s with ITV's The Big, Big Talent Show. He returned on radio in 1998, first with Virgin Radio and then with Radio 2 a year later. He first presented Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on BBC1 in 2001. Ross announced his departure from the BBC in January, saying: "It's probably not a bad time for me to move on – and it's probably not a bad time for the BBC, either. I've got six months left, I'm hoping to make the best shows of my career with them." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".