The BBC missed out on an opportunity to secure new Top Gear presenter Chris Evans on an exclusive deal after Channel 4 signed him first.
Danny Cohen, its director of television, admitted this week he was surprised when Evans committed to front a new series of his Channel 4 show, TFI Friday.
Channel 4 signed up Evans to a full series as soon as it became clear that a one-off anniversary special of TFI Friday, broadcast on 12 June, was a massive hit with viewers with an overnight audience of nearly 4 million.
By the time the BBC announced on 16 June that Evans would succeed Jeremy Clarkson on BBC2’s Top Gear, the Channel 4 deal had already been done, according to industry insiders. It meant the BBC was unable to insist that Evans focus solely on Top Gear.
The new run of TFI Friday, due to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the autumn, will also be two episodes longer than previously thought, a 10-part run.
Channel 4 insiders are hopeful, if it is a hit, that it will return for more series in the future.
Cohen said earlier this week that he was a “little bit surprised” when Evans signed up for a full series of TFI Friday.
“He’s made a commitment but after he’s finished [TFI Friday] he will be solely focused on Top Gear from the new year. He is working on it all the time,” Cohen said on Tuesday.
He said Evans’s enthusiasm for Top Gear was “absolutely immense” and said it would not conflict with his Radio 2 breakfast show or the return of TFI.
The last time Evans presented both TFI Friday and a daily radio breakfast show for the BBC, in the late 1990s, he walked out on Radio 1 after it refused his request to take Fridays off to concentrate on the Channel 4 show.
Cohen said: “He has got more energy than anyone I have ever met. I think he will manage fine.”
