As reported by TV Scoop yesterday Jonathan Ross has announced he is to quit the BBC rather than renegotiate his contract ending July 2010. No doubt Channel 4 will be knocking on his door very soon if they haven’t already .

Ross, who is believed to be paid £6 million a year, had said in the past that he would be prepared take a pay cut. So news that he isn’t going to renegotiate the contract at all comes as something of a surprise. What’s even more surprising is that he will give up his Radio 2 show as well as his TV show.

I can’t help wondering how much of this is do with politics and the immense pressure that the BBC will come under to reform and reduce their costs if a new Tory government comes into power in May as widely predicted. Though liked by some, Ross has come to stand for everything that many of the BBC’s detractors dislike. And the Beeb won’t want do anything that jeopardises the huge amount of revenue that it receives in licence fees from us, the general public.

Ross told his many followers on Twitter: “Thanks for all the kind words about my decision. I feel sad that I can’t keep making the shows so many of you love!” His words seem to indicate that he jumped the BBC ship before he was pushed overboard.