Since reports surfaced that comedian Harry Hill may be defecting to Channel 4, desperate ITV bosses are going to great lengths to get him stay with the channel, apparently offering him a deal worth up to £4 million.
ITV executives want to hold the funnyman at any cost, as his BAFTA-winning show Harry Hill's TV Burp receives more middle class and high-earning viewers than any other ITV show, bringing in £20 million in TV advertisements in 2011 alone.
Despite ITV's high offer, the 47-year-old comedian has reportedly said that he doesn't need or want the money.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, a source revealed: "The reason ITV want to keep Harry and especially TV Burp is not just the high ratings it gets but the type of people that watch the show.
"TV Burp gets audience members who don’t always watch ITV and would normally tune into BBC Two or Channel 4 so the advertisers love it."
ITV has disputed these reports, and the broadcaster released a statement which said: "ITV does not sell its airtime against individual programmes but across access to different audiences and ratings.
"Therefore this speculative figure, attributed to a single series in our schedule, is completely inaccurate."
Harry's golden handcuffs contract with ITV runs out in April and it has been claimed that the star has already been in talks with Channel 4 bosses about signing a new deal and potentially making a full-length feature film with the channel.
Other sources have revealed that in-demand Harry may join forces with impressionist and comedian Alistair McGowan to host new ITV panel show called You Cannot Be Serious!
A source said: "The programme will show funny clips from the week's sports and allow Alistair to write new sketches for the first time in ages. The pilot was side-splittingly funny."
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