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