Multi-million pound pay deals for the BBC's biggest stars are "extremely unlikely" in the future, the controller of BBC One, Jay Hunt, has said.
She told the Daily Telegraph she could not see herself agreeing to the sort of contracts that see Jonathan Ross earn a reported £6m per year.
"My reputation in this industry... is as one of the stingiest women in television," she said.
Hunt added that Ross's return to TV presented "a challenge" to the BBC.
The broadcaster has been suspended without pay for 12 weeks in the light of the crude phone calls he and Russell Brand made to the actor Andrew Sachs.
Hunt said she had spoken to Ross several times since the calls were broadcast and that he is "hugely contrite".
"The challenge now is how we bring Jonathan back to BBC One and give him support and the platform to re-establish that relationship with audiences."
She refused to comment on the broadcaster's pay - the BBC has never confirmed the £6m-a-year figure - but said such deals were unlikely in the future.
"I genuinely think the climate around those sorts of deals has changed," she said.
"In talent negotiations generally, we're in a better position than we've been for quite a long time, because the world is a different place."
Her comments echo remarks made by BBC director general Mark Thompson earlier this month.
He told BBC One's Andrew Marr programme that the public wanted the "best talent" but, owing to the economic climate, the corporation was moving towards a period of "retrenchment".
"It is probably the case that we will be able to secure the best entertainment talent for less than we have been able to do in the last few years," he added.
She told the Daily Telegraph she could not see herself agreeing to the sort of contracts that see Jonathan Ross earn a reported £6m per year.
"My reputation in this industry... is as one of the stingiest women in television," she said.
Hunt added that Ross's return to TV presented "a challenge" to the BBC.
The broadcaster has been suspended without pay for 12 weeks in the light of the crude phone calls he and Russell Brand made to the actor Andrew Sachs.
Hunt said she had spoken to Ross several times since the calls were broadcast and that he is "hugely contrite".
"The challenge now is how we bring Jonathan back to BBC One and give him support and the platform to re-establish that relationship with audiences."
She refused to comment on the broadcaster's pay - the BBC has never confirmed the £6m-a-year figure - but said such deals were unlikely in the future.
"I genuinely think the climate around those sorts of deals has changed," she said.
"In talent negotiations generally, we're in a better position than we've been for quite a long time, because the world is a different place."
Her comments echo remarks made by BBC director general Mark Thompson earlier this month.
He told BBC One's Andrew Marr programme that the public wanted the "best talent" but, owing to the economic climate, the corporation was moving towards a period of "retrenchment".
"It is probably the case that we will be able to secure the best entertainment talent for less than we have been able to do in the last few years," he added.