Chris Tarrant launches his first permanent radio show this week since leaving Capital in 2004. Although now qualifying for his bus pass and winter fuel allowance, he is leading a brave assault on one of the biggest guns in the BBC’s armoury — Jonathan Ross on Radio 2. Hitherto, Saturdays from 10am to 1pm have been Ross’s undisputed territory, but no longer. Tarrant will be there too, with his show being financed to the tune of £1m a year by Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer. And, just as Ross has an on-air batman in the shape of Andy Davies (who is also, more importantly, his producer), so will Tarrant — the funnyman Mike Osman, once the main breakfast host on Capital Gold.

The Chris Tarrant Show will go out on GMG’s Smooth, Real and Century stations and thus enable this 61-year-old workaholic to be heard, either on analogue or digital, by most of the British population. With the exception of a few one-off specials, he has never previously enjoyed that on radio. His 17 years as Capital FM’s breakfast star made him a household name across London but not outside it, and for most people beyond the M25, he is primarily the host of ITV’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which has certainly made him one.

There is another difference now, too. At Capital, he never chose the music. Now, he will — a rare privilege and one also extended to Ross and Davies. “Chris will have complete editorial control over it,” confirms John Simons, GMG’s programmes director. And what will it be? “A wide range of his favourite tracks from the past 50 years,” say Head on Media, the independent company producing the new show. “From legends and guitar heroes to modern rock, soul and new singer-songwriters.” Examples given include Elvis, Sinatra, the Stones, Clapton, Guns N’ Roses, the Kooks, the Manics, Stevie Wonder, Soul II Soul, Candi Staton, Adele and Duffy. And they promise “slightly unusual choices” from the albums of David Bowie, Elton John, Led Zeppelin and so on. It sounds a broader if mellower menu than that of Ross, who tends to focus on 1980s and new releases.

The most remarkable aspect of this new venture is that GMG is paying Tarrant nothing. His money comes from Nissan, which is sponsoring the show and co-announced the £1m figure earlier this month, though he has to pay his producer and sidekicks out of that. So Nissan gets lots of publicity for its Micra, GMG rakes in all the advertising revenue, and Tarrant receives a fat salary. It sounds like a win-win situation all round.

“It’s a format that’s been used in America for about 30 years,” says Simons. “For example, with Casey Kasem’s Top 40 shows, but I don’t think anybody has tried to do it here before. It can only work if you have a very big name — and the BBC has most of those tied up.”

Can it work? Nissan did not reply when asked last week how many times the dreaded phrase “And now a word from our sponsor” will be heard, which does not bode well for those who fear a relentless blizzard of tedious promotional announcements. And Ross is the quickest, wittiest man on radio, the one most able to say outrageous things and get away with it. But Tarrant has a wide following, is less divisive and has an attractive array of music on offer. As long as he remembers not to throw forks across the studio, everything should be fine.

paul.donovan@sunday-times.co.uk

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