BBC to reveal effective hourly rate of its star presenters

THE BBC is to detail how many hours its star presenters spend on air in return for their six-figure and seven-figure salaries, allowing the public to judge whether or not they provide value for money.

The list of those earning £150,000 or more will be published today, with presenters grouped in £10,000 bands. It will detail how many editions of a show they worked on, effectively setting out their hourly rate.

A BBC source said: “We will be publishing the detail of the work individuals have done, which programmes they worked on and how many. This will help ensure that more informed comparisons can be made.”

However, the BBC’S insistence that it is being transparent over salaries is undermined by the fact that the list is already out of date. It covers the financial year to April 2018, but many have had pay increases or cuts in recent months and their current salaries will not be disclosed for another year.

The BBC will hide current earnings in a separate table, grouping presenters anonymously in £50,000 bands, rather than publishing individual salaries.

Around one third of the stars who appeared on last year’s list will be absent because their salaries are paid via BBC Studios, which was spun off last year as a commercial entity and includes Strictly Come Dancing, Countryfile, Antiques Roadshow and Eastenders.

Last year, there were 96 presenters earning £150,000 or more, two thirds of whom were men. Insiders said there would be more women on the list this year and fewer men.

The BBC’S most prominent names are braced for the fallout when their salaries are made public as part of the corporation’s annual report.

Lord Hall, the director-general, will today reaffirm his pledge to eliminate the gender pay gap by 2020. The gap has fallen from 9.3 per cent to 7.6 per cent in the past year.