First he was leaving. Then he wasn’t. Now it seems it’s somewhere in between. Capital Radio is reported to have admitted that although Chris Tarrant will front its new look breakfast show, he will have nearly six months holiday per year, meaning for every week he presents the show he’ll take a week off.
A Capital insider told the Media Guardian: "He won't take all the holiday all in one chunk - it will be a week on, week off sort of thing. Neil Fox is going to be the anchor while he's not in the studio. God knows what listeners will think, let alone the City. It's a dog's dinner.”
Capital were desperate to keep Tarrant – his show accounts for 15% of the group's income. Station bosses are frightened of what his depature would do to their ratings and share price, just as new regulation on media-ownership is likely to cause a frenzy of merger and acquisition in the UK radio industry. So desperate were Capital management Tarrant could negotiate this incredibly good contract.
The station will argue that their new look breakfast show will depend less on the presenter’s personality, and that the new system will enable them to ease Neil Fox in as the flagship presenter when Tarrant finally retires at the end of 2003. They will also point out that a new female co-presenter, expected to be announced in the next few weeks, will provide consistency during next year and when Tarrant finally leaves. But some media commentators reckon Tarrant’s frequent breaks will encourage listeners to start sampling other radio stations at breakfast.