Zoe Ball and Gary Lineker take pay cuts as BBC reveals top on-air earners

lineker

The BBC has released its Annual Report, showing how it performed and where it made savings in 2020 and 2021.

It has revealed the salary ranges of its on-air talent, as well as for the highest-paid executives in the organisation – showing that Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball remain at the top of the list of those earning more than £150,000, but have taken pay cuts.

Overall, the BBC has brought down the total salaries paid to these stars by 10%.

Last year, Zoe Ball’s salary jumped from the £370,000 – £374,999 bracket in 2018/19 to £1,360,000 – £1,364,999 in 2019/20. This has now been cut to £1,130,000 – £1,134,999.

Lineker remains the highest-paid on-air star at the BBC, receiving between £1,360,000 – £1,364,999, a cut of around 22% from his 2019/20 salary, which sat at between £1,750,000 and £1,754,999.

The report says: “During the year we have been able to reduce the number of individuals in on-air roles earning over £150,000: the total cost of individuals named; and also the average amount paid to each of these individuals.

“It is also worth noting that, both on-air and off-air, we continue to operate in extremely competitive markets for talent, with inflation levels for pay often well above the average for the UK economy.”

Of those stars in the top 10 best-paid this year, two have received an increase in pay – BBC Northern Ireland and 5 Live presenter Stephen Nolan, and Radio 1 presenter Scott Mills – while Lauren Laverne and Alan Shearer’s salary bands have stayed the same.

The rest have taken pay cuts of between £15,000 and nearly £400,000 in Lineker’s case.

As ever, the list does not cover the entire picture since it excludes income from BBC Studios, its commercial branch. It therefore doesn’t reveal the pay of actors in EastEnders and Casualty, and would exclude Zoe Ball’s income from Strictly: It Takes Two.

See the list in full:

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On-air talent
Salary band
Gary Lineker
£1,360,000-£1,364,999
Zoe Ball
£1,130,000-£1,134,999
Steve Wright
£465,000-£469,999
Huw Edwards
£425,000-£429,999
Fiona Bruce
£405,000-£409,999
Stephen Nolan
£405,000-£409,999
Lauren Laverne
£395,000-£399,999
Alan Shearer
£390,000-£394,999
Vanessa Feltz
£390,000-£394,999
Scott Mills
£375,000-£379,999
Ken Bruce
£365,000-£369,999
Andrew Marr
£335,000-£339,999
Emily Maitlis
£325,000-£329,999
George Alagiah
£325,000-£329,999
Greg James
£310,000-£314,999
Dan Walker
£295,000-£299,999
Jeremy Vine
£295,000-£299,999
Nicky Campbell
£295,000-£299,999
Sophie Raworth
£280,000-£284,999
Jo Whiley
£275,000-£279,999
Mishal Husain
£275,000-£279,999
Evan Davis
£270,000-£274,999
Jason Mohammad
£270,000-£274,999
Nick Robinson
£270,000-£274,999
Sara Cox
£270,000-£274,999
Laura Kuenssberg
£260,000-£264,999
Justin Webb
£255,000-£259,999
Naga Munchetty
£255,000 -£259,999
Mark Chapman
£250,000-£254,999
Martha Kearney
£250,000-£254,999
Sarah Montague
£245,000-£249,999
Amol Rajan
£240,000-£244,999
Emma Barnett
£240,000-£244,999
Nick Grimshaw
£240,000-£244,999
Jon Sopel
£230,000-£234,999
Trevor Nelson
£230,000-£234,999
Tina Daheley
£225,000-£229,999
Jeremy Bowen
£220,000-£224,999
Katya Adler
£220,000-£224,999
Mary Berry
£215,000-£219,999
Kirsty Wark
£210,000-£214,999
Clive Myrie
£205,000-£209,999
Faisal Islam
£205,000-£209,999
Fergal Keane
£205,000-£209,999
Rachel Burden
£205,000-£209,999
Louis Theroux
£200,000-£204,999
Jermaine Jenas
£195,000-£199,999
Charlie Stayt
£190,000-£194,999
Mark Easton
£190,000-£194,999
Simon Jack
£190,000-£194,999
Louise Minchin
£185,000-£189,999
Sarah Smith
£185,000-£189,999
Jonathan Agnew
£175,000-£179,999
Michael Vaughan
£175,000-£179,999
Reeta Chakrabarti
£175,000-£179,999
Annie Mac
£170,000-£174,999
Ben Brown
£170,000-£174,999
James Naughtie
£170,000-£174,999
Victoria Derbyshire
£170,000-£174,999
Clara Amfo
£165,000-£169,999
Gabby Logan
£165,000-£169,999
Orla Guerin
£160,000-£164,999
Shaun Keaveny
£160,000-£164,999
Simon McCoy
£160,000-£164,999
Graham Norton
£155,000-£159,999
Joanna Gosling
£155,000-£159,999
Steve Lamacq
£155,000-£159,999
Carolyn Quinn
£150,000-£154,999
Isa Guha
£150,000-£154,999
Mary Anne Hobbs
£150,000-£154,999
Nihal Arthanayake
£150,000-£154,999
Winifred Robinson
£150,000-£154,999

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