C'mon guys!!
I'm not a fan of Chris Evans but he was obviously on the big bucks because he could attract and maintain the largest audience figures for a radio show in the UK, probably in Europe. Apparently, with the run up to his departure audience figures were dropping like a stone. It doesn't matter who you are, you pay for guys like that.
If he could only raise an audience of 8 people he certainly wouldn't be on the BBC, no matter what his history was. More like he'd be on L&D hospital radio.