A bad week for radio broadcaster Jon Gaunt got worse as The Sun axed his radio show.

SunTalk, his internet radio show is shutting down with immediate effect.

The former TalkSport presenter lost in his legal efforts to overturn an OfCom decision against him earlier this week. Gaunt took media regulator OfCom to court after it ruled he broke broadcasting codes by calling a council official a "Nazi" and "ignorant pig" during a debate on TalkSport about smokers fostering children. He claimed OfCom's ruling breached his human right to freedom of expression. But the High Court did not concur, saying the insults he used on his TalkSport show were unnecessarily and gratuitously offensive.

The shock jock could take his case to the European Courts but this is thought unlikely due to the expense. He continues to write a column for the tabloid.

Some initially thought that The Sun's sudden announcement that it was shutting down SunTalk yesterday might be linked to the court ruling. It was known publishers News International were considering taking the SunTalk brand to digital radio. That would mean the show would be regulated by OfCom. The current online-only version actually falls under the remit of the Press Complaints Commission because it is housed on a newspaper website.

Costs

But insiders say that this week's court ruling had nothing to do with News International's subsequent decision to not proceed with plans to take SunTalk to DAB. Rather bosses there they baulked at the costs involved in going the proper radio route with the audio service. Once the DAB plans were off the agenda, it seems the newspaper's cost cutting chiefs decided they couldn't afford the ongoing cost of making the chat show available online.

It's widely assumed The Sun will take its website down the same subscription route as News International's other title The Times, and arguably audio services like Gaunt's rant show would be a good added value extra for Sun Online subscribers.

Additional reporting by CMU Network