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From left to right: Zoe Ball, Vanessa Feltz, Lauren Laverne and Fiona Bruce are in the top 10
Four women are now on the BBC’s top 10 earners list, the corporation’s annual report shows.
Zoe Ball’s pay has increased by £ 1 million after taking over the Radio 2 Breakfast show, while Fiona Bruce and Lauren Laverne have placed in the top 10.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker remains officially the highest paid star with an unchanged salary of £ 1.75 million.
But CEO Tim Davie said he had now accepted a pay cut, which will be reflected in next year’s roster.
Gary Lineker’s pay cut is estimated to amount to more than £ 400,000 a year
“Gary Lineker signed a new five-year contract that saves a quarter of his last contract,” Davie told reporters.
The BBC later confirmed that it was a 23% pay cut, which would be around 403,000 pounds. That means Lineker’s pay will be lower than Ball’s if he stays at the same level.
Mr. Davie described him as a brilliant announcer and said he was a great example of “best talent and best value.”
“And before you ask, Gary knows his responsibility to the BBC in terms of its use of social media,” added Davie, referring to the social media rules for BBC staff and presenters that are expected to be announce soon.
Lineker shrugged off any haters about his salary on Twitter.
- BBC Star Salaries: Who Earns What?
Overall, the total salary bill for on-air talent in 2019/20 increased by £ 1 million to £ 144.6 million. The top 10 beneficiaries are still all white.
Davie said the BBC “still had work to do” in this area, but noted that only 12% of BBC talents with a BAME background were making more than £ 150 million in 2016 and it is now 18%.
Some stars don’t appear on the list because the BBC Studios business division, which runs many shows, doesn’t have to disclose their rates.
As a result, the stars of some of the biggest BBC shows, like Top Gear and Doctor Who, are absent from the list.
Ball has gone up despite the fact that his Strictly spinoff show It Takes Two is made by BBC Studios and is therefore not included.
Top 10 salaries
- one. Gary Lineker – £ 1,750,000- £ 1,754,999 (Match of the Day, Premier League and FA Cup, Sports Personality of the Year)
- two. Zoe ball – £ 1,360,000- £ 1,364,999 (Radio 2’s Zoe Ball Breakfast Show)
- 3. Graham norton – £ 725,000- £ 729,000 (Weekly program on Radio 2, a variety of programs and series, Bafta film and television awards)
- Four. Steve Wright – £ 475,000- £ 479,999 (Steve Wright from Radio 2 afternoon, Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs)
- 5. Huw edwards – £ 465,000- £ 469,999 (News at Six and News at Ten, featuring on BBC One and the News Channel, election night and news specials)
- 6. Fiona bruce – £ 450,000- £ 454,999 (Question time and presentation on BBC One)
- 7. Vanessa feltz – £ 405,000- £ 409,999 (Radio 2 Early Breakfast Show, Radio London Breakfast Show, Radio 2 cover)
- 8. Lauren laverne – £ 395,000- £ 399,999 (BBC 6 Music Breakfast Show, 6 Music Recommends, Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Mercury Music Prize)
- = 9. Alan shearer – £ 390,000 – £ 394,999 (Match of the day: Premier League and FA Cup)
- = 9. Stephen Nolan – £ 390,000 – £ 394,999 (The Nolan Show on Radio Ulster, Nolan Live on BBC One (Northern Ireland), The Stephen Nolan Show on 5 Live)
- 10. Ken bruce – £ 385,000- £ 389,999 (Radio 2 mid-morning show, Eurovision Song Contest, Radio 2 live in Hyde Park)
Last year, the list included three women: Ball, Winkleman and Feltz.
The overall gender pay gap at the BBC has fallen from 6.7% to 6.2%. Previous CEO Tony Hall had committed to closing the gender pay gap by 2020.
Mr. Davie said “it was a very aggressive goal … we can be proud of our progress, but we must go further.”
Progress had been made and the BBC was “in a better position … we have addressed issues of equal pay,” he added.
But she said she wanted to increase the number of women at all leadership ranks. Currently, the figure stands at 45%. “It’s about leaders, not talking but acting.”
This annual report contains many complex messages, but it is likely to still lead to simple, negative headlines for the BBC.
The list of salaries for broadcasters on the air, which includes me, reflects three years of reforms.
As part of those reforms, many broadcasters, particularly, but not exclusively, male, accepted significant pay cuts (Huw Edwards, Jeremy Vine, etc.) or left the BBC (Chris Evans, John Humphrys, Eddie Mair).
Now, several broadcasters, particularly, but not exclusively, women, have had pay increases.
Fundamentally, the salary increases for these female presenters (Zoe Ball, Fiona Bruce, Lauren Laverne, Emily Maitlis) reflect additional work.
The general increase in the salary of those whose salaries are published, around £ 1 million, is not, in financial terms, huge, given the number of people to whom it belongs and the salaries themselves.
However, the optics are bad for the BBC. Complexity doesn’t cut through high-wage stories.
The simple fact is, at a time of immense hardship across the country, with so many people laid off or laid off and suffering, these huge salaries (and their modest overall increase) will seem embarrassing to many license payers.
The other big story is the finances of the BBC. In the medium term, they are very tense. It’s surprising that by the end of next year, the BBC will have saved around £ 800 million in just five years.
But the fact that the license fee did not increase with inflation between 2010 and 2017, and the impact of £ 125 million (at least) from the coronavirus pandemic, is a great disservice to next year’s results.
And that’s even before considering whether a generation that spends so much time on TikTok, YouTube, and WhatsApp feels they need to pay for a TV license.
