SMG To Part With Absentee Evans?

Scottish Media Group (SMG) is expected to confirm this morning that it has ended its relationship with high profile breakfast DJ Chris Evans. The move will be the result of Evans’ failure to turn up to present his show during the past week. Yesterday he was sent a letter by the SMG board informing him that he would not be allowed to broadcast his show today.

The DJ’s absence was originally blamed on illness, but tabloid coverage of Evan’s shopping for alcohol with his wife cast doubts on this, and fuelled rumours that his relationship with SMG, which bought out his company, Ginger Media, last year for £225m (see Ginger Acquisition Strengthens SMG’s Presence) was becoming strained.

It is thought that breaching his contract could cost Evans around £15m in share options and possibly the final instalment of payment SMG was due to make him for the Ginger Media acquisition. For SMG, whose share price has slipped due to the advertising downturn and accusations that it overpaid and could not manage its creative talent, this week’s events could have deeper implications in terms of its business reputation.

Yesterday SMG shares ended down 3.5% at £1.65 yesterday. By 9.30am today, they had slipped a further 5p or just over 3% to £1.60.

SMG: 0141 300 3000 Virgin Radio: 0207 434 1215 www.virginradio.co.uk

Subscribers can access the Radio database by selecting “Radio” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.