Parkinson was poached from the BBC after 33 years in a deal that saw the veteran interviewer host take his show to ITV as part of a two-year contract that will see 'Parkinson' air on ITV1 on Saturday nights.
Parkinson is also said to be in discussions with ITV's director of programmes, Nigel Pickard, about other future projects for the network.
According to Pickard: "Television stars don't come much bigger than Michael Parkinson and I am delighted that he is joining us at ITV. There's no doubt that he is the very best in his field and will be a fantastic addition to ITV's Saturday nights."
The signing of Parkinson was a fillip for ITV: not only is he highly regarded but his talkshow is the UK's highest rated, attracting major stars over the years such as Nelson Mandela, Orson Welles, Mohammed Ali, Sir Paul McCartney, Shirley MacLaine, Peter Sellers and the Beckhams.
ITV will be airing 'Parkinson' as part of its autumn and winter line-up, which will have to fend off strong competition from the BBC's coverage of the Olympics and the return of Premiership football highlights to the BBC.
ITV will also be airing a fourth series of 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' following the highly rated third series earlier this year, which was won by Kerry McFadden.
'Parkinson' has attracted a lot of interest from sponsors and ITV Sales invited sealed bids, with Prudential coming out on top. Prudential's agency WCRS will produce the ad to back the insurance firm's sponsorship, which was planned by PHD and negotiated by Drum & Leigh Alexander.
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