BBC pay: Only two of top 20 best-paid stars are women

Lineker

The BBC has published the annual list of its highest-paid staff – and only two of the top 20 are women, despite an outcry about gender inequality last year.

The top-earning woman is once again Claudio Winkelman, in 13th place, on a salary of £370,000 to £379,999. Vanessa Feltz is the only other female member of the top 20.

The number of women earning more than £200,000 has increased from seven to 14 in the year to March 31st 2018, while the number of men paid more than £500,000 had fallen from five to three.

Last year the BBC published the list for the first time, after it became a requirement of its Royal Charter obligations.Emily Maitlis, who earns between £220,000 and £230,000, Jane Garvey, on £150,000 to £160,000, and Sarah Montague, on £160,000 to £170,000, have all moved onto the list after not appearing last year.

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    Unlike last year, the list does not include anyone working on programmes made by BBC Studios, which makes many of the Corporation’s most popular programmes.

    The highest-paid person on the list is Gary Lineker, who earned between £1.75m and £1.76m. Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans, who was top last year, took a pay cut of more than £500,000, moving him into the £1.66m to £1.67m bracket.

    The third best-paid star was Graham Norton, who also took a pay cut, of about £250,000, moving into the £600,000 to £609,000 bracket.

    Number four was Radio 2 presenter Steve Wright, who actually got a pay INCREASE, meaning his salary had risen to more than £550k.

    Nick Grimshaw, at nine, also got an increase, to more than £400k, despite his show having been cut to only four days a week this year because of declining listening figures. He subsequently quit the Breakfast show. The only woman to move up a salary bracket is Sophie Raworth.

    The bid to close the gender pay gap at the BBC will result in the total number of on-air talent paid more than £150,000 rising by almost a fifth from 58 this year to 69 by 1 April 2019.

    The BBC said that by March next year the proportion of women making the top pay list would reach 40%, and would be 50% by 2020.

    Excluding BBC Studios, 59% of on-air figures earning more than £150,000 in the current financial year are men, which compares with 76% in 2016-17.

    Director General Lord Hall said: “I’ve made it absolutely clear that’s not good enough and I want to get to 50/50, and that will mean changes in the range of what people are paid right across [the organisation].

    “We are making progress and you must understand that. We’re trying to get a balanced range of men and women and their pay right across the organisation.

    “I am concentrating on what is a huge change, which is going from 25% of women to 40% of women being in the top, over £150,000 pay… These things take time.”

     

    BBC on-air salary list 2017-18

    • 1. Gary Lineker – £1,750,000-£1,759,999
    • 2. Chris Evans – £1,660,000-£1,669,999
    • 3. Graham Norton – £600,000-£609,999
    • 4. Steve Wright – £550,000-£559,999
    • 5. Huw Edwards – £520,000-£529,999
    • 6. Jeremy Vine – £440,000-£449,999
    • =7. Nicky Campbell – £410,000-£419,999
    • =7. Alan Shearer – £410,000-£419,999
    • =9. John Humphrys – £400,000-£409,999
    • =9. Nick Grimshaw – £400,000-£409,999
    • =9. Stephen Nolan – £400,000-£409,999
    • =9. Andrew Marr – £400,000-£409,999

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