£2.5m Norton tops BBC earners
Government forced revelations will cause ‘carnage among staff’, say television insiders
CHATSHOW host Graham Norton will today be unveiled as the highest-paid star at the BBC – with earnings of about £2.5million for roles across TV and radio.
BBC bosses have been forced by the Government to reveal what top stars are paid.
Figures will show that Match of the Day host Gary Lineker earns a salary of just below £2million.
The former England international striker is included in a list of 96 on-air presenters, entertainers and actors on £150,000-plus a year.
The BBC’s annual report will also show that just one third of the top talent are women. Among these are Claudia Winkleman, who gets about £500,000 for her roles on Strictly Come Dancing and Radio 2.
Tess Daly, who does not host a radio show but has been on Strictly far longer, earns less than Claudia.
Others expected to feature high on the list include Radio 2 Breakfast show host Chris Evans, sports presenter Clare Balding and news anchors Fiona Bruce and Huw Edwards.
BBC director general Tony Hall described the enforced move as a “poachers’ charter” as he braced himself for in-fighting among stars discovering how much their colleagues are on.
He argued against the Government’s insistence that the public deserve to know what presenters are paid because it comes out of the licence fee income.
The move was also opposed by the BBC’s rivals ITV and Channel 4, who fear it could drive up wages for talent.
One source said: “This could cause carnage among the BBC’s staff, with everyone knowing what everyone else earns. Agents will be up in arms and demanding meetings all over the place.
“Who benefits? No one. The BBC are more conservative with their pay packets than other TV employers but they still have to be competitive otherwise why would the top stars want to work there?
“Now, the public will view them all as overpaid prima donnas but their earnings are dictated by market forces. ”
Hall told BBC staff: “Comparing people’s pay is not straightforward. Few do the same thing. People working at the same show may have other, or different, commitments.”
Hall also stressed he was only revealing the salaries under duress.
He added: “In all the negotiations with the Government, we said it would be wrong to put the names of our talent against what they are paid.”
The BBC’s annual report this morning will reveal the total bill for on-air talent has been reduced by £4million from £198million in 2016 to £194million.