In 2001, Price hit the headlines when he signed a £280,000 two-year contract. Under his new contract, he hosted extra editions of "Liquid News" for BBC One, BBC Prime and BBC America, raising his profile further. Some sections of the press considered his salary to be too much for a presenter on a digital channel. However, the BBC recognised Price's potential and were keen to keep him from "defecting" to a rival network. At the time, Price himself was quoted as jokingly saying that he didn't understand why people would want to watch a programme presented by a "fat, balding, homosexual". Under proposals which were awaiting government approval, Price and "Liquid News" would have been the centrepiece of a new BBC channel, BBC Three.