• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

BBC stars' pay has been revealed in annual report.

mocoworm

Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40653383

UPDATE: the list of BBC presenter salaries has been published. Read the full list below.

TV NON-SCRIPTED (FACTUAL & ENTERTAINMENT)

£150,000 - £199,999
Darcey Bussell - Contributor
Mel Giedroyc - Presenter
Craig Horwood - Contributor
Paul Martin – Presenter
Simon Schama - Presenter

£200,000 - £249,999

Gary Barlow - Contributor
Len Goodman - Contributor
Dannii Minogue - Contributor
Bruno Tonioli - Contributor
Alan Yentob - Presenter

£300,000 - £349,999
Nick Knowles - Presenter
£350,000 - £399,999
Tess Daly - Presenter
£400,000 - £449,999
Alex Jones - Presenter

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

£150,00 - £199,999
Kamal Ahmed - Correspondent
Jeremy Bowen - Correspondent
Ben Brown - Presenter
Mark Easton - Presenter
Gavin Esler - Presenter
James Naughtie - Correspondent and Presenter
John Pienaar - Correspondent
Sophie Raworth - Presenter
John Simpson - Correspondent
Kirsty Wark - Presenter
Justin Webb - Presenter

£200,000 - £249,999
Victoria Derbyshire - Presenter
Mishal Husain - Presenter
Martha Kearney - Presenter
Laura Kuenssberg - Correspondent
Andrew Neil - Presenter
Jonathan Sopel - Correspondent

£250,000 - £299,999
George Alagiah - Presenter
Nicholas Robinson - Presenter

£300,000 - £349,999
Eddie Mair - Presenter

RADIO

£150,000 - £199,999
Adrian Chiles - Presenter
Greg James - Presenter
Shaun Keaveny - PResenter
Moira Stuart - Presenter
Jo Whiley - Presenter

£200,000 - £249,999
Mark Radcliffe – Presenter

£250,000 - £299,999
Ken Bruce – Presenter
Scott Mills – Presenter
Trevor Nelson – Presenter

£300,000 - £349,999
Lauren Laverne - Presenter

£350,000 - £399,999
Vanessa Feltz - Presenter
Nicholas Grimshaw - Presenter
Simon Mayo - Presenter

£400,000 - £449,999
Nicky Campbell - Presenter

£500,000 - £549,999
Steve Wright

SPORT

£150,000 - £199,999
Jonathan Agnew - Presenter and commentator
Claire Balding - Presenter
Jonathan Davies - Contributor
John McEnroe - Presenter and commentator

£200,000 - £249,999
John Inverdale – Presenter
Gabby Logan – Presenter

£250,000 - £299,999
Jason Mohammad – Presenter
£300,000 - £349,999
Sue Barker – Presenter
£400,000 - £449,999
Alan Shearer – Presenter
£1,750,000 - £1,799,999
Gary Lineker – Presenter

TV SCRIPTED (DRAMA AND COMEDY)

£150,000 - £199,999
Laurie Brett – Actor
Letitia Dean – Actor
Tameka Empson – Actor and Contributor
Guy Henry – Actor
Linda Henry – Actor
Scott Maslen – Actor
Diane Parish – Actor
Hugh Quarshie – Actor
Jemma Redgrave – Actor
Tim Roth – Actor
Catherine Shipton – Actor
Gillian Taylforth – Actor
Lacey Turner – Actor

£200,000 - £249,999
Peter Capaldi – Actor
Danny Dyer – Actor
Emilia Fox – Actor
David Jason – Actor
Rosie Marcel – Actor
Adam Woodyatt – Actor

£250,000 - £299,999
Amanda Mealing – Actor
£350,000 - £399,999
Derek Thompson – Actor

MULTI-GENRE

£150,000 - £199,999
Naga Munchetty – Presenter and Contributor

£200,000 - £249,999
Mark Chapman – Prsenter
Jools Holland – Presenter
Dan Walker – Presenter

£250,000 - £299,999
Zoe Ball – Presenter
Brian Cox – Presenter
Evan Davis – Presenter

£350,000 - £399,999
Fiona Bruce – Presenter

£400,000 - £449,999
Andrew Marr – Presenter
Stephen Nolan – Presenter

£450,000 - £499,999
Matt Baker – Commentator and Presenter
Claudia Winkleman – Presenter

£550,000 - £599,999
Huw Edwards – Presenter

£600,000 - £649.999
John Humphrys – Prsenter

£700,000 - £749,999
Jeremy Vine – Presenter

£850,000 - £899,999
Graham Norton – Presenter

£2,200,000 - £2,249,999
Chris Evans – Presenter

Chris Evans has topped the list of the BBC's best-paid stars.

He made between £2.2m and £2.25m in 2016/2017, while Claudia Winkleman is the BBC's highest-paid female celebrity, earning between £400,000 and £450,000.

Match of the Day's Gary Lineker earned between £1.75m and £1.8m, the BBC annual report said.

Director general Tony Hall said there was "more to do" on gender and diversity.
The figures reveal large disparities between what men and woman are paid.
There is also disparity between what white stars and those from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background are paid.

George Alagiah, Jason Mohammad and Trevor Nelson are the highest paid BAME stars, each receiving between £250,000 and £300,000.

The highest-paid female star with a BAME background is BBC news presenter Mishal Hussain, who received between £200,000 and £250,000.

It is the first time the pay details of stars earning more than £150,000 have been made public.
The revelations are required under the BBC's new Royal Charter and encompass 96 of its top stars.

The annual report contains pay information in bands and does not reveal exact amounts. Nor does it include stars who receive their pay through BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm.

The figures quoted only refer to the amount of licence fee money each person receives and do not include their earnings from other broadcasters or commercial activities.

It also does not distinguish between people with multiple jobs within the BBC and those with just one.

The figures also show disparities in pay for people working on the same show, including the judges on Strictly Come Dancing.
Head judge Len Goodman and Bruno Tonoli are in the £200,000-£250,000 band, while Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell get between £150,000 and £200,000.

Tess Daly, Winkleman's Strictly Come Dancing co-host, was paid between £350,000 and £400,000.

Overall, 25 men on the talent list receive more than £250,000, compared to just nine women.

As he left the BBC earlier after his Radio 2 breakfast show, Chris Evans said it was right "on balance" that star salaries were being disclosed.

"We are the ultimate public company I think, and therefore it's probably right and proper people know what we get paid," he told reporters.

Analysis by David Sillito, media correspondent

The BBC pay details may not give the full story. Graham Norton's £850,000 pay does not include what he receives from the production company, So TV, that makes his Friday night chat show.

It's also worth noting the name of Matt LeBlanc does not appear on the list - suggesting he is paid by the BBC's commercial operation, BBC Worldwide, and not the licence fee.
Stephen Nolan, who is paid more than £400,000, presents five days a week on BBC Ulster. He also appears on BBC 5 Live and does some TV work.

On BBC Breakfast, neither Louise Minchin nor Charlie Stayt appear on the list but Dan Walker is there with earnings of more than £200,000.

However, he also presents Football Focus and was part of the Rio Olympics coverage.

Speaking on the Today programme earlier, Lord Grade - a former director general of the BBC - called the government's insistence that talent pay be disclosed "distasteful and disturbing".

"The net result of this is inflation," he said. "Talent salaries and wages will round upwards, they won't go down."

The annual report shows the BBC continues to reach 95 percent of UK adults every week.

It also shows the iPlayer had its most successful year to date, with an average of 246 million requests each month.
 
Alan Shearer is in the £400,000 - £499,999 band.

You fucking what? He does nothing but spout the same boring shit whenever he's on screen. Remarkable.
 

Auctopus

Member
I'm not one to rant "blah, blah my tax money spent on this" but I had no idea so much money was spent on talent for relatively shite TV.
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
shouty chris gets 2 million?

yeah he was great in TGIF and Big Breakfast back in the day, but now. not so much.
 

kiyomi

Member
I'm not one to rant "blah, blah my tax money spent on this" but I had no idea so much money was spent on talent for relatively shite TV.

Yeah, this. Feels like they've spent their budget on celebrities instead of actually interesting content for a while now.

The BBC website has also just become 95% clickbait/"life stories" articles. It's sad.
 

Zaph

Member
This is a massive mistake and will just make it that much harder for the BBC to negotiate contracts and renewals. The new Royal Charter feels like a deliberate Tory effort to undermine the BBC and give their commercial competitors (cough Sky UK cough) help with poaching talent and kneecapping popular shows.

And how on earth did Chris Evans trick people into thinking he's good?
 
This is a massive mistake and will just make it that much harder for the BBC to negotiate contracts and renewals. The new Royal Charter feels like a deliberate Tory effort to undermine the BBC and give their commercial competitors (cough Sky UK cough) help with poaching talent and kneecapping popular shows.
Good, if commercial tv can do these programs, let them. Government paid tv should only be for things like news, so there is no commercial influence on news coverage.

If a show is popular, it might as well be on commercial tv.
 
The BBC produces a phenomenal range of excellent content, but hard to deny some of those figures seem crazy high. I guess it's the marketplace talking, though.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
This is a massive mistake and will just make it that much harder for the BBC to negotiate contracts and renewals. The new Royal Charter feels like a deliberate Tory effort to undermine the BBC and give their commercial competitors (cough Sky UK cough) help with poaching talent and kneecapping popular shows.

Also this is accurate, the motives behind forcing the BBC to do this are blatant.

However, and as much I detest Sky and also admire some of the work the BBC do, I simply cannot square away in my mind that today I am forced to pay nearly £150 a year so that Alan Shearer can be paid nearly half a million quid.

I just can't support it. I know that's what they wanted in forcing the Beebs hand but I just can't
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Also this is accurate, the motives behind forcing the BBC to do this are blatant.

However, and as much I detest Sky and also admire some of the work the BBC do, I simply cannot square away in my mind that today I am forced to pay nearly £150 a year so that Alan Shearer can be paid nearly half a million quid.

I just can't support it. I know that's what they wanted in forcing the Beebs hand but I just can't

You aren't forced to pay.
 

Mindwipe

Member
Some of these salaries are just odd, can't believe guy who plays Charlie on Casualty is the BBC's highest paid actor.

He's the highest paid actor on a show that's not made by an independent production company, which most BBC dramas are, and which is not in part paid by commercial terms by BBC Worldwide for international sales advances (as most dramas are sold nowadays but Casualty isn't a big international or commercial seller).

Also in context, these numbers are pretty small. I know of a commercial channel newsreader who's tax bill alone was higher than any of these numbers (and significantly so).
 
Looks like the were being shown the next group of people to hate until the next election.

At least single mum's are getting a day off.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Not surprised at how high sports pundit salaries are, especially with BT sports financial clout and poaching competitiveness.
 
Good, if commercial tv can do these programs, let them. Government paid tv should only be for things like news, so there is no commercial influence on news coverage.

If a show is popular, it might as well be on commercial tv.

Except with that kind of mindset, Blackadder would have been dead at the first season, and that's a freaking classic of British comedy. The BBC's disconnect from being directly affected by ratings is a major factor in terms of the content it produces.

Otherwise, I feel mixed on this release in itself. True, it's an extra level of transparency, and may be useful for folks inside of the BBC to argue for better pay, but it's going to be used to bang the drum against the BBC by Murdoch's cronies.
 

PJV3

Member
Good, if commercial tv can do these programs, let them. Government paid tv should only be for things like news, so there is no commercial influence on news coverage.

If a show is popular, it might as well be on commercial tv.

Nah, the BBC should get back to making popular in house comedy etc.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
You aren't forced to pay.

I own a TV. I like to watch some terrestrial TV output. Without playing hard and fast with semantics and technicalities, I am forced.

Given the choice of not paying and locking all BBC content behind a paywall, I'd choose that. That currently isn't an option.
 

mclem

Member
Lots of thoughts:

* Mildly surprised - but delighted - that Claudia earns so much. But then she does do a lot of presenting of a lot of different shows.
* Intrigued that CRH earns a bit less than the other two longest-running Strictly judges - but I think he cashes in somewhat via the Tour, so I suspect it's still beneficial to him.
* Interesting that LeBlanc isn't there, although it makes sense.
* That disparity between the top end and the bottom is pretty foul.
* I assume Evans' figures include his production company? That seems an awful lot if it's just for his radio show. Unless maybe there's still some leftovers from his time on Top Gear accounted for?
* Lineker seems a bit higher than I'd expect, but, well, football is football.
* Intrigued that Clare Balding isn't mentioned - or is this only BBC employees, because she's formally a freelancer, albeit a pretty prolific one.
 
Lots of thoughts:

* Mildly surprised - but delighted - that Claudia earns so much. But then she does do a lot of presenting of a lot of different shows.
* Intrigued that CRH earns a bit less than the other two longest-running Strictly judges - but I think he cashes in somewhat via the Tour, so I suspect it's still beneficial to him.
* Interesting that LeBlanc isn't there, although it makes sense.
* That disparity between the top end and the bottom is pretty foul.
* I assume Evans' figures include his production company? That seems an awful lot if it's just for his radio show. Unless maybe there's still some leftovers from his time on Top Gear accounted for?
* Lineker seems a bit higher than I'd expect, but, well, football is football.
* Intrigued that Clare Balding isn't mentioned - or is this only BBC employees, because she's formally a freelancer, albeit a pretty prolific one.



Balding is £150k-£199k according to Piers Morgan.
https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/887602413695315968
 

tomtom94

Member
Not surprised at how high sports pundit salaries are, especially with BT sports financial clout and poaching competitiveness.

I expect this one to get bashed on a lot. I've always felt there's been an element of classism behind some* attacks on the BBC; "why should I have to pay for the plebs to watch MOTD" etc.

But of course the plebs watching commercial television and pay TV is, was, and always will be fine, for some reason.

*Note that I said some.
 

mclem

Member
Balding is £150k-£199k according to Piers Morgan.
https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/887602413695315968

Much as I hate to agree with Piers Morgan (and I certainly don't begrudge Norton doing well), she really does deserve more. I suppose she *is* getting multiple sources of income, though, whereas Norton is all-BBC.


I'd be interested to see where the GBBO stars would have placed in this.

I'd assume all the accounting for that is via Love Productions, so not part of the BBC.
 
Except with that kind of mindset, Blackadder would have been dead at the first season, and that's a freaking classic of British comedy. The BBC's disconnect from being directly affected by ratings is a major factor in terms of the content it produces.

Otherwise, I feel mixed on this release in itself. True, it's an extra level of transparency, and may be useful for folks inside of the BBC to argue for better pay, but it's going to be used to bang the drum against the BBC by Murdoch's cronies.

Nah, the BBC should get back to making popular in house comedy etc.
Times have changed, we have on-demand services making those projects possible now. There is a ton of choice already in entertainment. While I also enjoy some BBC shows, they should be either funded independent (as is being done through their Worldwide service with some things) or just go commercial. I see no reason to have taxpayers fund entertainment in the current tv landscape anymore.
 

Mindwipe

Member
* Intrigued that CRH earns a bit less than the other two longest-running Strictly judges - but I think he cashes in somewhat via the Tour, so I suspect it's still beneficial to him.

The other two present on Dancing With the Stars, and also present other programming for the BBC as part of their talent contracts - Craig doesn't so much as he still does quite a lot of stage choreography work and he's pretty busy with that.

* Interesting that LeBlanc isn't there, although it makes sense.

These figures are pretty meaningless tbh, but there you go.

* I assume Evans' figures include his production company? That seems an awful lot if it's just for his radio show. Unless maybe there's still some leftovers from his time on Top Gear accounted for?

Yeah, some of it is related to his Top Gear contract, though it would still be a higher number.

* Intrigued that Clare Balding isn't mentioned - or is this only BBC employees, because she's formally a freelancer, albeit a pretty prolific one.

She's on the list, she just doesn't do that much work any more for the BBC because she spends a lot of her time working for BT Sport (for no doubt a vastly higher hourly rate) and hence the "headline" figure is low enough the press didn't read down that far.
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
Claire Balding presents half of all national television so I'm a bit shocked not to see her on this list.

Shearer is the one who stands out to me as completely unnecessary, he brings nothing to bbc sport that couldn't be replaced for a fraction of the cost. Even Robbie from arsenal fan tv would be an improvement.
 

mclem

Member
Found the actual figures (they're not in the report directly, but a second document, the "Annex" to the report).

Biggest surprise is Alex Jones (No, for Americans, not that one) being one of the highest-paid presenters - but I guess she's on the One Show daily. Pleased to note there's not that much discrepancy between her paycheck and Matt Baker's, which could perhaps be accounted for by Countryfile.

Sue Barker does okay, third place for sports presenting after Lineker and Shearer. I'd assume that includes A Question Of Sport.

Brian Cox is a mild surprise, in that I didn't think science presenting was respected that much!

One that stands out is Tim Roth, because I assume that's just for Rillington Place.
 

Mindwipe

Member
Times have changed, we have on-demand services making those projects possible now.

Number of UK comedy commissions funded by (non-BBC) on-demand services in the last 12 months = 0.

Please stop talking out of your arse about a sector you clearly don't understand.
 

tomtom94

Member
Found the actual figures (they're not in the report directly, but a second document, the "Annex" to the report).

Biggest surprise is Alex Jones (No, for Americans, not that one) being one of the highest-paid presenters - but I guess she's on the One Show daily.

I now have the image of the other Alex Jones turning up on the One Show one day and Matt Baker just carrying on as if nothing has changed.
 

mocoworm

Member
Lots of thoughts:
*I assume Evans' figures include his production company? That seems an awful lot if it's just for his radio show. Unless maybe there's still some leftovers from his time on Top Gear accounted for?

The Graeme Norton figure does not include the pay from his production company. His salary is really £2m + , so I am assuming that Chris Evans' production company money is not included here either?
 
Found the actual figures (they're not in the report directly, but a second document, the "Annex" to the report).

Biggest surprise is Alex Jones (No, for Americans, not that one) being one of the highest-paid presenters - but I guess she's on the One Show daily.

She's on everything.
I never saw the one show but i know her very well.
 

danthefan

Member
When you look at the sports coverage, Linekar getting paid about 10 times Claire Balding just seems mental.

Overall these are lower than I thought they'd be with a few outliers like Evans and Linekar.
 
Number of UK comedy commissions funded by (non-BBC) on-demand services in the last 12 months = 0.

Please stop talking out of your arse about a sector you clearly don't understand.
So until the end of time only the BBC can make a UK comedy. Or maybe, there is little demand. Or nothing is being made because the BBC already does.

How am I talking out of my ass if I think that tax money should not go towards tv entertainment?
 

dh4niel

Member
Fucking Nick Knowles on 300k?! Don't get me started on Nick Grimshaw and Claudia Winkleman on 400/450k. That's ridiculous.
 

deli2000

Member
Times have changed, we have on-demand services making those projects possible now. There is a ton of choice already in entertainment. While I also enjoy some BBC shows, they should be either funded independent (as is being done through their Worldwide service with some things) or just go commercial. I see no reason to have taxpayers fund entertainment in the current tv landscape anymore.

We're in a complete drought of original comedy on UK TV right now. Far less shows are being commissioned than in the past. Without the BBC we would barely have any new comedy at all. It's not like the US where streaming services and cable companies can greenlight stuff.
 

Mindwipe

Member
So until the end of time only the BBC can make a UK comedy. Or maybe, there is little demand. Or nothing is being made because the BBC already does.

How am I talking out of my ass if I think that tax money should not go towards tv entertainment?

You literally claimed that UK Comedy was being made by on-demand services now so there was no need for any public service funding.

They aren't. None have been made in recent times. You're entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
 

King_Moc

Banned
So until the end of time only the BBC can make a UK comedy. Or maybe, there is little demand. Or nothing is being made because the BBC already does.

How am I talking out of my ass if I think that tax money should not go towards tv entertainment?

You think the BBC should literally just do news, current affairs and documentaries. Presumably because you secretly feel that would quickly bring about their demise as they would lose most of thier viewers.

They were created on the proviso that they would Inform, Educate and Entertain, and that hasn't changed. If you don't like it, don't pay for it.
 
Top Bottom