Page 3 Profile: Jake Humphrey, TV Broadcaster
Moving to Sky to present Formula One?
Humphrey, one of BBC Sport's best-known faces, was upset when the Beeb lost the exclusive right to show Formula One races. Sky outbid the BBC, and as a result only half of the races are available on terrestrial channels. "The amount of money the BBC have now is not what they had to spend a few years ago," said Humphrey at the time. But now it seems the 33-year-old has moved where the money is. He won't be presenting Formula One for Sky, instead opting to lead Premier League coverage on BT's new sports channel.
BT has a sports channel? Who knew?
Earlier this year, the telecoms giant splashed £738m on the rights to screen 38 top-flight matches each season for three years. You'd imagine Humphrey – still contracted to the BBC until the year's end – will see a substantial increase on his current (rumoured) £250,000 salary. The decision to abandon Formula One, which involves travelling the world, could also be down to the fact he is about to become a father.
But is he worth it?
Some say Humphrey is a little bland, but he handled the London 2012 Velodrome coverage reasonably well. He did forget to wear a tie for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, but it was by no means the biggest BBC gaffe during the holiday. News of Humphrey's departure came on the day BBC director general George Entwistle said the corporation needed to hang onto its best talent. "We are very good at finding new people. We put them on the telly, we turn them into something remarkable relatively quickly," he said. "The rest of television thinks, that's a nice shortcut, we'll take that piece of talent away." This latest loss could prove something of a headache.
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