Graham Norton set to take over Jonathan Ross's TV slot

Graham Norton is set to step into Jonathan Ross's soon-to-be vacated Friday night BBC1 slot.

The funnyman emerged as an early frontrunner in January but the BBC says he is "likely" to take his chat show to Fridays.

Norton has already been confirmed as the replacement for Ross's Radio 2 show later this year.

Ross bows out from BBC1 tomorrow night and his final show for Radio 2 will be broadcast on Saturday after he decided to quit the corporation at the end of his current contract.

Norton is expected to move to a late-night Friday role in October, with comedy show Would I Lie To You plugging the gap from next week. Programmes such as stand-up show Live At The Apollo are also expected to be scheduled until Norton's series moves.

A BBC spokeswoman said of the Norton move: "In all likelihood, when his show returns later in the year it will play in the Friday night slot."

Ross recorded his last chat show last night before hosting a similar format on ITV1 following a year's break.

Ross said he was "grateful, lucky and honoured" to have worked at the BBC.

"It's been a remarkable period of my TV career," he said.