Home NEWS Gary Lineker is BBC’s highest earner – as three women go into top 10

Gary Lineker is BBC’s highest earner – as three women go into top 10

by admin2 admin2
16 views
Gary Lineker is BBC’s highest earner – as three women go into top 10

Gary Lineker, Chris Evans and Graham Norton remain at the top of the BBC‘s rich list despite the corporation handing out huge pay rises of up to £200,000 to women stars, it was revealed today.

Lineker raked in £1.75million for presenting Match of Day last year, down by £5,000 on last year, while Graham Norton earned £615,000 for his work on Radio 2, up £10,000. Despite leaving BBC radio in December, Chris Evans was still the second-highest earner on £1.25million, down £40,000.

For the first time ever, women were in the top 10, with Zoe Ball, Claudia Winkleman, both earning up to £375,000, and Vanessa Feltz, who is on up to £360,000, among the top earners.

The BBC has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of licence fee-payers’ cash on increasing the wages of women, including those paid to Sara Cox, Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne and Emily Maitlis, while slashing the salaries of senior men. 

The astonishing pay packets were revealed as critics slam the BBC for scrapping the universal free TV licence for over-75s – with many saying the corporation should be cutting pay rather than charging pensioners.

Its annual report reveals the BBC’s total pay bill is now £1,078million, up £60million from last year. The bill for top stars hit £159million this year, up by £11million on last year.

The BBC’s annual report is the first salary disclosures since the corporation sparked outrage by announcing it is scrapping the universal free TV licence for over-75s. The corporation claims it would need to find £745million a year if it didn’t carry out the move.

Gary Lineker, who earned £1.75million last year, Graham Norton, who increased his pay to more than £615,000, and Chris Evans remain the top three highest paid stars at the BBC. Evans earned £1.25million before he left Radio 2 in December

Zoe Ball, Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz became the first women to enter the BBC’s top-10 highest paid this year. Ball and Winkleman both earned up to £375,000 while Feltz is on up to £360,000

Defending Lineker’s salary, director-general Lord Hall said today: ‘Every time contracts come up we look at them, we negotiate hard with people but Gary does do an excellent job.

‘People and our audiences, when we ask them, want us to employ great people but overall our talent bill is coming down and it’s 0.5% of our overall spend… the bill is coming down, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t employ great people who entertain us, who inform us, who educate us.’

A total 75 people at the BBC now earn over £150,000, up from 64 last year, figures from the report show.  

The corporation says it is narrowing the gender pay gap after uproar among female stars who learned men were being paid much for for doing the same job.

Jo Whiley was given £100,000 more  this year – up from £170,000 to £275,000. New Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Zoë Ball is earning £370,000, up from less than £150,000, and Sara Cox, who was vying for the top job on BBC radio, is up from £100,000 to £239,000. 

Zoe Ball’s pay will rise significantly next year. She has only hosted the radio show since January after taking over from Chris Evans.

A number of female news presenters also got huge windfalls, with Sophie Raworth now on more than £265,000, up from £205,000, Fiona Bruce on more than £255,000, up from around £185,000, and Emily Maitlis on more than £260,000, up from around £225,000. 

A number of high-profile men dropped out of the top 10, including Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Nicky Campbell and Nick Grimshaw. All four have seen their pay cut.  

Jeremy Vine has had £140,000 chopped from his salary while John Humphrys has lost £100,000, Steve Wright’s pay dropped by £80,000 and Nicky Campbell is earning £60,000 less last year.

Despite the pay cuts for men, the huge budget for salaries will anger pensioners facing being stripped of their free licences.000000

Stats released today show a number of women stars seeing pay increases while male presenters endured pay cuts. The figures above show the increases and decreases, but men still enjoy higher pay than their female counterparts

BBC News presenters Sophie Raworth, Emily Maitlis and Fiona Bruce were among the women given bumper pay rises. Raworth earned up to £270,000, Maitlis up to £265,000 and Bruce up to £260,000

The stars whose salaries we CAN’T see: How pay funneled through separate firm is hidden from the public

The pay of many TV stars is not revealed by today’s list, despite them receiving thousands in licence fee-payers cash. 

Presenters and actors paid by BBC Studios, a TV production and distribution company, do not have to have their salaries disclosed. 

Stars of programmes including Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing (pictured above), Planet Earth II, Doctor Who, Mrs Brown’s Boys, EastEnders, Casualty and The One Show – all created by BBC Studios – are off the list, or have just portions of their salaries shown. 

It is thought a third of the stars who appeared last year may be absent this time.

BBC Studios was created to let the corporation sell shows to rival broadcasters and compete with giants such as Netflix. It creates the likes of DIY SOS, The One Show and Strictly Come Dancing. 

BBC chairman Sir David Clementi defended the controversial decision over TV licence fees for the over-75s, insisting it is ‘the fairest one possible’. 

Sir David said: ‘I truly believe the decision we have made to fund free licences for the over-75s in receipt of Pension Credit is the fairest one possible, fairest to the poorest pensioners and fairest to all licence fee payers.’

Free licences will be restricted to over-75s who claim Pension Credit from June 1 2020. 

The corporation has faced widespread criticism over its decision.

Lord Hall said: ‘The decision to continue funding free TV licences for over-75s on Pension Credit makes it all the more important that the BBC does everything possible to help itself financially – that’s why the record levels of efficiency and higher commercial returns are so important in ensuring we have a strong BBC for the future.’ 

It comes after BBC director General Lord Hall defended high pay for top stars, insisting the public was prepared to pay for ‘talented and entertaining’. 

Lord Hall wrote in a blog last night: ‘They would earn significantly more elsewhere – and recent departures to commercial rivals show this argument isn’t hollow.

‘The simple truth is we have spent more than ever on content, but the amount we have spent proportionally on talent has come down.

‘But more importantly, whenever we ask the public whether they want big stars on the BBC they say yes. They say yes because they are talented and entertaining. They also say yes as it means they are getting big value from the BBC.’ 

Radio presenters Nick Grimshaw, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell all dropped out of the BBC’s top 10 earners list. Grimshaw’s pay dropped from £400,000 to £310,000, Vine’s dropped from £440,000 to £290,000 and Nicky Campbell’s pay fell from £410,000 to £340,000

Lauren Laverne’s pay increased from more than £230,000 to more than £305,000, Lauren Laverne’s pay increased from more than £230,000 to more than £305,000 while Gabby Logan’s pay rose from more than £230,000 to more than £290,000

Today, Lord Hall said the figures shows the BBC had ‘turned a corner on gender pay’.

He added: ‘When we published the figures for top talent, there was a 75:25 split between men and women. The projection for 2019/20 is now 55:45. This is significant change. The task is not complete, we are not complacent, but we are well on our way.’

Women up, men down: The new top ten earners at the BBC and how their pay has changed this year 

1. Gary Lineker – Match of the Day, Sports Personality of the Year – £1.75m (down slightly from £1.759m last year)

2. Chris Evans – Outgoing Radio 2 Breakfast Show host – £1.25m (down from £1.69m)

3. Graham Norton – BBC Radio 2 Saturday show and a range of TV programmes – £615,000 (up from £600,000)

4. Huw Edwards – BBC News – £495,000 (down from £529,000)

5. Steve Wright –  Radio 2 afternoon show – £469,000 (down from £559,000)

6. Alan Shearer –  Match of the Day  – £444,000 (up £419,000)

7. Andrew Marr – The Andrew Marr Show, Start the Week – £394,000 (down from £409,000)

8. Zoe Ball – The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show – £374,00 (up from less than £150,000)

9. Claudia Winkleman – BBC Radio 2 and TV shows (not including Strictly Come Dancing) – £374,000 (down from £379,000)

10. Vanessa Feltz – BBC Radio 2 & Radio London – £359,000 (up from £339,000)

=10. Jason Mohammad – Final Score, Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport  £359,000 (up from £269,000) 

The women who’ve seen their pay soar…

  • Jo Whiley – Radio 2 – Up from £170,000 to £275,000 
  • Sara Cox – Radio 2 – Up from less than £150,000 to £239,000 
  • Sophie Raworth – BBC News – Up from £205,000 to more than £265,000 
  • Fiona Bruce – BBC News and the Antiques Roadshow – Up from £185,000 to more than £255,000 
  • Emily Maitlis – Newsnight – Up from around £225,000 to more than £260,000 

No longer in the top 10 – the men who have dropped out…

  • Jeremy Vine – Radio 2 & Eggheads – Now on £294,000 (down from £449,000
  • Nicky Campbell – 5 live Breakfast – Now on £344,000 (down from £419,000)
  • Nick Grimshaw – Radio 1 – Now on £314,000 (down from £409,000)
  • John Humphrys – Radio 4 Today – Now on £295,000 (down from £409,000)
  • Stephen Nolan – The Nolan Show – Now on £329,00 (down from £409,000)

Revealed: The BBC’s 75 stars now paid in excess of £150,000 (that’s more than the Prime Minister!) 

 News and current affairs

Today Programme

Nick Robinson – £290,000 – £294,999 

John Humphrys – £290,000 – £294,999   

Mishal Husain – £255,000 – £259,999

Martha Kearney – £245,000 – £249,999 

Justin Webb – £245,000 – £249,999

World at One 

Sarah Montague – £240,000 – £244,999 

PM 

Evan Davis – £275,000 – £279,999 

Eddie Mair – £155,000 – £159,999  

BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten 

Huw Edwards – £490,000 – £494,999 

George Alagiah – £315,000 – £319,999 

Sophie Raworth – £265,000 – £269,999 

Question Time 

Fiona Bruce – £255,000 – £259,999 

The Andrew Marr Show 

Andrew Marr – £390,000 – £394,999 

Newsnight 

Emily Maitlis – £260,000 – £264,999 

Victoria Derbyshire Show

Victoria Derbyshire – £215,000 – £219,999 

BBC News Channel 

Clive Myrie – £200,000 – £204,999 

Reeta Chakrabarti – £170,000 – £174,999 

Ben Brown – £165,000 – £169,999 

Jane Hill – £155,000 – £159,999 

Joanna Gosling – £150,000 – £154,999 

BBC Radio News 

Tina Daheley – £185,000 – £189,999 

BBC Breakfast 

Louise Minchin – £205,000 – £209,999 

Naga Munchetty – £190,000 – £194,999 

Charlie Stayt – £190,000 – £194,999  

On-air editors and correspondents 

Laura Kuenssberg – £250,000 – £254,999 

Jon Sopel – £240,000 – £244,999 

Jeremy Bowen – £215,000 – £219,999 

Amol Rajan – £210,000 – £214,999 

Katya Adler – £205,000 – £209,999 

Fergal Keane – £195,000 – £199,999 

Mark Easton – 180,000 – £184,999 

James Naughtie – £170,000 – £174,999 

Simon Jack – £170,000 – £174,999

John Pienaar – £160,000 – £164,999 

Sarah Smith – £160,000 – £164,999

Orla Guerin – £160,000 – £164,999 

 BBC Radio 1 

Nick Grimshaw – £310,000 – £314,999 

Scott Mills – £285,000 – £289,999 

Greg James – £225,000 – £229,999 

Annie Mac – £180,000 – £184,999 

Clara Amfo – £150,000 – £154,999 

BBC Radio 2 

Chris Evans – £1,250,000 – £1,254,999 

Steve Wright – £465,000 – £469,999 

Zoe Ball  – £370,000 – £374,999 

Jeremy Vine – £290,000 – £294,999 

Ken Bruce – £280,000 – £284,999 

Jo Whiley – £270,000 – £274,999 

Simon Mayo – £245,000 – £249,999 

Sara Cox – £235,000 – £239,999 

Trevor Nelson – £165,000 – £169,999 

BBC Radio 5 live 

Nicky Campbell – £340,000 – £345,999 

Adrian Chiles – £180,000 – £184,999 

Nihal Arthanayake – £175,000 – £179,999 

Rachel Burden – £170,000 – £174,999 

Dotun Adebayo – £150,000 – £154,999 

BBC 6 Music 

Lauren Laverne – £305,000 – £309,999 

Shaun Keaveny – £160,000 – £164,999 

Multiple stations 

Vanessa Feltz – £355,000 – £359,999 

Stephen Nolan – £325,000 – £329,999 

Mark Radcliffe – £155,000 – £159,999 

Sport 

Gary Lineker   – £1,750,000 – £1,754,999 

Alan Shearer – £440,000 – £444,999 

Jermaine Jenas – £210,000 – £214,999 

Ian Wright – £205,000 – £209,999

Jonathan Agnew  – £170,000 – £174,999 

Sue Barker – £195,000 – £199,999 

John McEnroe – £190,000 – £194,999 

Gabby Logan  – £290,000 – £294,999 

Mark Chapman –  £230,000 – £234,999 

Clare Balding – £175,000 – £179,999 

Television and radio

Mary Berry – £195,000 – £199,999 

Jason Mohammad – £355,000 – £359,999 

Dan Walker – 280,000 – £284,999 

Graham Norton – £610,000 – £614,999 

Claudia Winkleman  – £370,00 – £374,999

…and the BBC bosses also earning more than £150,000 

Director-General 

Tony Hall – £450,000 – £454,999

Executive committee 

Charlotte Moore – Director Content – £370,000 – £374,999 

Francesca Unsworth Director, News and Current Affairs £340,000 – £344,999 

Ken MacQuarrie Director, Nations and Regions – £325,000 – £329,999 

Glyn Isherwood Chief Financial Officer – £315,000 – £319,999 

Valerie Hughes-D’Aeth Chief HR Officer – £310,000 – £314,999  

Matthew Postgate Chief Technology and Product Officer – £310,000 – £314,999

James Purnell Director, Radio and Education – £305,000 – £309,999

Kerris Bright Chief Customer Officer – £280,000 – £284,999 

Bob Shennan Group Managing Director – £275,000 – £279,999 

Sarah Jones Group Legal Counsel – £270,000 – £274,999

John Shield Director, Communications and Corporate Affairs – £225,000 – £229,999 

David Jordan Director, Editorial Policy and Standards – £175,000 – £179,999  

Clare Sumner Director, Policy – £170,000 – £174,999

Gautam Rangarajan Director, Strategy Corporate Functions – £170,000 – £174,999

Corporate 

 Bal Samra Group Commercial Director £325,000 – £329,999

Shirley Cameron Group Financial Controller  – £210,000 – £214,999 

Dale Haddon HR Director – £205,000 – £209,999 

Balram Veliath Director, Quality, Risk and Assurance – £205,000 – £209,999

Gillian Taylor Director, Reward – £200,000 – £204,999 

Anna Gronmark HR Director, News and Current Affairs £195,000 – £199,999 

Joe Godwin Director, Academy – £190,000 – £194,999 

Peter Ranyard Director, Corporate Legal – £190,000 – £194,999

Noel Scotford Director, HR Systems and Business Analytics – £175,000 – £179,999

Rachel Currie HR Director, Content, Radio and Education – £170,000 – £174,999 

Claudia Giles Legal Director – £170,000 – £174,999

Chris Rowsell Head of Regulation – £170,000 – £174,999

Phil Harrold Company Secretary – £165,000 – £169,999

Wendy Aslett HR Director, Nations and Regions – £165,000 – £169,999 

Claire Paul Senior Head of Leadership and Development – £160,000 – £164,999

Sarah Gregory Director, HR Operations – £160,000 – £164,999

Catherine Hearn Director, Resourcing – £160,000 – £164,999

Isabel Begg Head of Commercial Rights and Business Affairs  – £155,000 – £159,999

Tim Cavanagh Director, Workplace  – £155,000 – £159,999

Alexis Hawkes Legal Director – £155,000 – £159,999

Pipa Doubtfire Director, Revenue Management – £155,000 – £159,999

Alan Bainbridge Director, Corporate Real Estate – £150,000 – £154,999

Jessica Cecil Director Design and Engineering – £150,000 – £154,999

Design and engineering 

Matt Grest Director, Platform – £210,000 – £214,999  

Stuart Page Director, Product and Systems – £200,000 – £204,999

Robin Pembrooke Director, Product and Systems – £200,000 – £204,999 

 Chris Condron Director, Product and Systems – £190,000 – £194,999 

Kieran Clifton Director, Distribution and Business Development – £185,000 – £189,999

Jatin Aythora Chief Architect – £185,000 – £189,999

Andy Baker Director, Engineering Operations – £185,000 – £189,999

Andy Conroy Controller, Research and Development – £180,000 – £184,999

Gary Payne Chief Information Security Officer – £180,000 – £184,999

Sarah Hayes Director, BBC Archives – £165,000 – £169,999

Richard Cooper Controller, Digital Distribution – £160,000 – £164,999

Andrew Kaczor Finance and Operations Director – £160,000 – £164,999

Mike Ford Programme Director – £160,000 – £164,999

Claire Hetherington Head of Product – £155,000 – £159,999

John Parrott Head of Architecture Marketing and Audiences – £150,000 – £154,999

Marketing 

Nick North Director, Audiences – £170,000 – £174,999

Justin Bairamian Director, BBC Creative Nations and Regions – £170,000 – £174,999

Nations and regions 

Ian Haythornthwaite Chief Financial and Operating Officer – £240,000 – £244,999

Donalda MacKinnon Director, Scotland – £180,000 – £184,999

Rhodri Talfan Davies Director, Wales – £180,000 – £184,999

Peter Johnston Director, Northern Ireland – £175,000 – £179,999

Chris Burns Senior Head of Local Radio Commissioning – £150,000 – £154,999

Steve Carson Senior Head of Multi-Platform Commissioning – £150,000 – £154,999 

Content 

Piers Wenger Controller, Drama Commissioning – £245,000 – £249,999 

Dan McGolpin Controller, iPlayer and Programming – £215,000 – £219,999

Alison Kirkham Controller, Factual Commissioning – £215,000 – £219,999

Barbara Slater Director, Sport – £215,000 – £219,999

Shane Allen Controller, Comedy Commissioning – £215,000 – £219,999

Patrick Holland Controller, BBC Two and BBC Four – £215,000 – £219,999

Kate Phillips Controller, Entertainment Commissioning – £210,000 – £214,999

Rose Garnett Director, BBC Films – £205,000 – £209,999

Lucy Richer Senior Commissioning Editor, Drama – £175,000 – £179,999

Tom McDonald Head of Specialist Factual Commissioning – £175,000 – £179,999

Cassian Harrison Channel Editor, BBC Four – £170,000 – £174,999

Philip Bernie Head of TV Sport – £170,000 – £174,999

Fiona Campbell Controller, BBC Three – £165,000 – £169,999

David Brindley Head of Popular Factual Commissioning – £160,000 – £164,999

Clare Sillery Head of Documentary Factual Commissioning – £155,000 – £159,999

Jo Wallace Senior Commissioning Editor, Entertainment News and Current Affairs – £150,000 – £154,999

News and current affairs 

Kamal Ahmed Editorial Director – £205,000 – £209,999

Jamie Angus Director, World Service Group – £195,000 – £199,999

Alan Dickson Chief Financial and Operating Officer – £195,000 – £199,999

Jonathan Munro Head of Newsgathering – £175,000 – £179,999

Mary Hockaday Controller, World Service English – £170,000 – £174,999

Gavin Allen Head of News Programmes – £170,000 – £174,999

Sarah Ward-Lilley Managing Editor – £165,000 – £169,999

Joanna Carr Head of Current Affairs – £155,000 – £159,999

James Gray Deputy Head of Current Affairs – £155,000 – £159,999

Jon Zilkha Senior Project Director Radio and Education – £150,000 – £154,999

Radio and education 

Graham Ellis Controller, Radio Production – £210,000 – £214,999

Alice Webb Director, Children’s – £210,000 – £214,999

Ben Cooper Controller, Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network – £200,000 – £204,999

Gwyneth Williams Controller, Radio 4 – £195,000 – £199,999

Charlotte Lock Launch Director, Sounds – £185,000 – £189,999

Cheryl Taylor Head of Content, Children’s –  £180,000 – £184,999

Alan Davey Controller, Radio Three – £175,000 – £179,999

Helen Bullough Head of Children’s Production – £170,000 – £174,999

Jonathan Wall Controller, 5 Live – £165,000 – £169,999

Rhona Burns Finance and Operations Director – £160,000 – £164,999 

Former Staff

Anne Bulford Deputy Director-General – £435,000 – £439,999

Richard Dawkins Chief Financial and Operating Officer – £200,000 – £204,999

Neelay Patel Director, Product and Systems – £200,000 – £204,999

Damian Kavanagh Controller, BBC Three – £190,000 – £194,999

Elizabeth Kilgarriff Senior Commissioning Editor (Drama) – £170,000 – £174,999

Mark Friend Controller, Editorial Projects – £160,000 – £164,999

Colin Burns Chief Design Officer – £150,000 – £154,999

Adrian Van Klaveren Head of Strategic Change and Portfolio Management – £150,000 – £154,999

Tunde Ogungbesan Head of Diversity and Inclusion – £150,000 – £154,999

Read More

You may also like

Leave a Comment