Jonathan Ross waves to the media outside his home in north London Thursday after he announced he is to quit the BBC after 13 years. (Stefan Rousseau/Associated Press)

Popular British TV and radio host Jonathan Ross has announced that he will leave the U.K.'s public broadcaster, more than a year after his involvement in a lewd phone prank with outrageous comic Russell Brand.

Ross said Thursday that he has decided against renegotiating his contract with the British Broadcasting Corporation and will end his 13-year run on the BBC when his term ends in July.

The 49-year-old Ross is the public broadcaster's highest-paid personality — with an annual salary reported to be £6 million, or about $9.5 million Cdn) — and the well-known host of both radio and TV programming.

"I've got six months left, I'm hoping to make the best shows of my career with them," Ross told reporters outside his home.

Ross also said his decision was "not financially motivated."

In addition to his weekly BBC TV talk show Friday Night …With Jonathan Ross and two programs on BBC Radio, he has also hosted prominent events such as British film and comedy award galas and specials.

In October 2008, Ross and Brand sparked a media storm after they broadcast on BBC Radio lewd prank calls left on the answering machine of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs. The comedy bit consisted of the two joking about Brand's sexual relations with the actor's granddaughter, a burlesque performer.

The public filed more than 40,000 complaints about the program, which also drew widespread condemnation.

Both hosts were suspended without pay, with Brand ultimately quitting the BBC. The incident also resulted in the resignation of two BBC executives and a record £150,000 fine (nearly $240,000 Cdn) from Ofcom, the U.K. broadcast regulator.