You cannot be serious!
BBC pays Martina £15,000 for her Wimbledon pundit role… while McEnroe gets TEN times as much
MARTINA Navratilova is paid just 10% of the sum handed to fellow BBC Wimbledon pundit John McEnroe, she has revealed.
The tennis star has re- i gnited the BBC’s gender pay row as she accused the Corporation of being an ‘old boys’ network’.
Three-time Wimbledon singles champion McEnroe, 59, is among the station’s top-paid talent, earning between £150,000 and £ 199,999 a year (€ 170,000 to €227,000).
Now Ms Navratilova, 61, has said she was paid around £15,000 for a similar role, despite being assured by the BBC she was paid an amount ‘comparable’ to that of male colleagues.
‘It was a shock because John McEnroe makes at least £150,000,’ she told current affairs show Panorama, which is shown tonight on BBC1.
‘I get about £15,000 for Wimbledon and unless John McEnroe’s doing a whole bunch of stuff outside of Wimbledon he’s getting at least ten times as much money.’
Ms Navratilova, who won a record nine women’s singles titles at Wimbledon, added: ‘We were not told the truth, that’s for sure. I’m not happy, it’s shocking, it’s still the good old boys’ network.
‘The bottom line is that male voices are valued more than women’s voices.’
Last night the BBC insisted the roles were ‘ simply not comparable’ because they performed ‘different roles’.
But Damian Collins, chairman of the House of Commons’ digital, culture, media and sport committee said there should not be such a l arge pay discrepancy.
The Conservative party MP said: ‘There can be no excuse for Martina Navratilova being paid 10% of what John McEnroe earns for broadcasting on the BBC during Wimbledon. This is wrong, and clearly no- one was considering wider issues of allowing such a vast pay gap to exist.
‘We will have further questions on this for the BBC.’
McEnroe made about 30 appearances for the BBC at Wimbledon l ast year, compared with Ms Navratilova’s ten appearances.
On top of his 12 live match commentaries during the tournament, McEnroe co-hosted regular slots with Sue Barker as well as highlights programmes and shows for BBC Radio 5 Live. Meanwhile, Ms Navratilova did three live commentaries, four highlights appearances, one video and two studio appearances.
The BBC said: ‘Martina is one of a number of occasional contributors who is contracted to carry out a fixed volume of work and paid per appearance. The BBC believes her pay reflects what she is asked to do, her time commitment, her level of broadcast experience, profile and track record and expertise.
‘John is contracted to be on call for the BBC across the entire 13 days of the tournament. Along with Sue Barker, John is regarded as the face of our Wimbledon coverage.’
It said McEnroe’s pay reflected that he was considered the sport’s best commentator and his contract stopped him working for another UK broadcaster without permission, adding: ‘Gender isn’t a factor.’