Mail: Jeremy Paxman’s new £3.2m deal is 20% pay cut

Jeremy Paxman has signed a four-year deal with the BBC worth £3.2 million, according to the Daily Mail.

According to the Mail, the new contract covers Newsnight and University Challenge, as well as other TV work, and it is 20 per cent less than his previous deal – which was believed to be for £1m a year.

There has been speculation that Paxman, 60, was looking for a new challenge after being on Newsnight since 1989.

Last month Paxman announced the end of the show’s daily email bulletin by calling “an exercise in fatuousness”.

Meanwhile, speculation continues over the future of BBC Question Time presenter David Dimbleby who is, according to reports, considering quitting the show over its relocation from London to Glasgow.

According to the Mail, the BBC “is locked in a battle to keep him on the show”, and has offered him a five-year contract that will see him presenting Question Time until he is 77.

According to The Telegraph, the contract includes provision for him to host 30 editions of the show a year at £15,000 a time. Reportedly he has rejected an offer from Sky and the BBC expects that he will be likely to continue hosting Question Time.