ITV Extends Deal with Ant & Dec

LONDON: ITV has signed an exclusive two-year deal with the English comedy duo Ant & Dec to extend their relationship with the broadcaster through to December 2013.

Per the agreement, Ant & Dec will present the new series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and Britain’s Got Talent, as well as the tenth season of their hit series Saturday Night Takeaway. The duo joined ITV in 1998 presenting the Saturday morning shows SM:tv Live and CD:UK and have been exclusively signed to the channel since 2000.

Peter Fincham, the director of television, channels and online at ITV, said, “Ant and Dec remain at the very top of their game as two of the nation’s most popular television stars. Their ability to connect with our audience is unrivalled and I’m delighted that we’re extending our exclusive partnership with them both for a further two years.”

Ant commented, "We are really pleased to sign with ITV for another two years and continue to make the programs we love with the channel.”

Dec added, "We always said we would bring back Saturday Night Takeaway, so we’re particularly delighted plans are now in place. We have lots of fresh and exciting ideas for the brand new series.”