Chiles snubs ITV offer

Adrian Chiles, the host of Match of the Day 2 and The One Show, has confirmed he will stay with the BBC despite ITV offering him a big-money transfer.

The coveted anchor, who also presents Apprentice spin off You're Fired! for BBC2, has been persistently courted by ITV to front its expanded slate of live football from next season. But he confirmed yesterday that he was "definitely staying" with the BBC and is believed to be close to agreement on a contract lasting at least two years.

The West Bromwich Albion fan has made a success of both Match of the Day 2, the Saturday Premier League highlight show's more relaxed Sunday night sibling, and The One Show, an ambitious attempt by former BBC1 controller Peter Fincham to create a daily magazine show at 7pm. "I'm definitely staying," said Chiles at yesterday's launch of the BBC's Euro 2008 coverage. "I'm lucky, I can do lots of things here [at the BBC]."

ITV had pursued Chiles since the turn of the year, offering him a reported £6m pay package to join its sports team. But he said the prospect of having to give up the varied portfolio he enjoys at the BBC had persuaded him to stay. "It's just sitting watching football with a nice bloke, it's not a proper job. Big tournaments, you couldn't possibly call them work," he added.

After winning the rights to live FA Cup football and England's home internationals from the BBC from next season in tandem with Setanta, and recently paying £160m to share the rights to live Champions League football with Sky until 2012, ITV desperately needs to beef up its team of football presenters and pundits.

With Gary Lineker, who yesterday said he was still "quite shocked" at the FA's decision not to award its most recent contract to the BBC, and Alan Hansen secured by the corporation on long-term contracts, it will now have to identify new targets. The value of live football to ITV was again reiterated on Tuesday night, when its coverage of the Champions League semi final clash between Liverpool and Chelsea peaked with more than 10m viewers.

Separately, the BBC also announced that former England manager Steve McClaren, whose failure to reach Euro 2008 cost him his job, had agreed to join Radio Five Live's commentary team for the tournament. His first match as a pundit will be Austria v Croatia on June 8.