Ant and Dec, Julian Assange and James May

Ant and Dec could be laughing all the way to the bank with new ITV deal Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

That Ant and Dec are set to sign a £30m three-year deal locking them in to ITV is no huge surprise. The pair are incredibly important to the channel, fronting many of its biggest shows. And, as one source told the Guardian, when you are expecting at some point to sell up in a deal valued in the region of £10bn, a few million here or there to secure on of your biggest assets is no big deal.

However, it does highlight the inflation in pay for the biggest names. It’s clear for instance that the mind-boggling sums Amazon reportedly paid for the Grand Tour was as much about hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond as it was the tech company’s desire for a show about cars.

Which brings us back to that trio’s former home – the BBC. The beeb’s protestations about being forced to reveal star pay haven’t exactly been viewed sympathetically by the public. Yet its complaints are rooted in the reality of having less money to secure ever more expensive talent. When £30m is the going rate for the best presenters, having to reveal every big paycheck is a headache the corporation understandably wants to avoid.

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