BBC splashes out on HUGE pay rises as Naga Munchetty, Greg James and Victoria Derbyshire’s salaries revealed
HALF of the BBC’s 74 top on-screen earners received a pay-rise last year - despite the corporation needing to slash costs.
In total the Beeb dished out more than £1million in increased pay to their on-air talent, with BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty one of the biggest benefactors getting an extra £110,000.
It means she now earns a massive £365,000 a year for her work on the morning show, her radio work and a Panorama documentary
The organisation’s media editor Amol Rajan was one of the top increases with at least £85,000 being added to his 2021 payslip - taking him to more than £325,000 a year.
Radio 1 DJ Greg James also bagged a cool £80,000 pay rise, and sports stars Alan Shearer and Michael Vaughan earned £60,000 and £50,000 more, respectively.
They now earn £390,000, £450,000, and £225,000 each.
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Others to benefit include new Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire - whose pay does not reflect her new role so will increase again next year - and news stalwarts Clive Myrie and Kirsty Wark.
The latter will likely see her pay increase again next year after replacing Emily Maitlis as the lead presenter of Newsnight.
In total, 37 famous faces saw their pay rise - amounting to at least £1,107,000 in total.
And 20 stars saw their pay remain exactly the same, see the full list here.
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There were high-profile cuts too - with Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Zoe Ball’s wage officially updated to take in a voluntary £150,000 pay cut.
The Sun revealed last year how the pandemic had made her feel “uncomfortable” about her wage so had requested it be cut. It was only partially reflected in last year’s disclosures because it came midway through the financial year.
Zoe still remains the second-top earner at the BBC taking home an eye-watering £980,000 a year for her work on the airwaves.
The top earner is Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, who earned more than £1,350,000, a £10,000 pay drop from 2021.
The disclosures were made as part of the BBC’s Annual Report - in which it is forced to reveal the salaries of all on-air talent earning more than £150,000.
The exercise has faced huge criticism in the past as a number of top-earning stars are paid via production companies, including big names on EastEnders, Strictly Come Dancing and The One Show.
It means that despite previously revealing the pay of talent including Alex Jones, Tess Daly and Danny Dyer - they are no longer included despite earning over the £150,000 threshold.
FULL LIST
- Gary Lineker £1,350,000-£1,345,999 - down from £1,360,000-£1,364,999
- Zoe Ball £980,000-£984,999 - down officially from £1,1,30,000-£1,134,999
- Steve Wright £450,000-£454,999 - down from £465,000-£469,999
- Alan Shearer £450,000-£454,999 - up from £390,000-£394,999
- Stephen Nolan £415,000-£419,999 - up from £405,000-£409,999
- Huw Edwards £410,000-£414,999 - down from £425,000-£429,999
- Fiona Bruce £410,000-414,999 - up from £405,000-£409,999
- Scott Mills £400,000-£404,999 - up from £375,000-£379,999
- Vanessa Feltz £400,000-£404,999 - up from £390,000-£394,999
- Greg James £390,000-£394,999 - up from £310,000-£314,999
- Ken Bruce £385,000-£389,999 - up from £365,000-£369,999
- Lauren Laverne £380,000-£384,999 - down from £395,000-£399,999
- Naga Munchetty £365,000-£369,999 - up from £255,000-£259,999
- George Alagiah £325,000-£329,999 - no change
- Amol Rajan £325,000-£329,999 - up from £240,000-£249,999
- Emily Maitlis £325,000-£329,999 - no change
- Sophie Raworth £305,000-£309,999 - up from £280,000-£284,999
- Nicky Campbell £295,000-£299,999 - no change
- Jeremy Vine £290,000-£294,999 - down from £295,000-£299,999
- Jason Mohammed £285,000-£289,999 - up from £270,000-£274,999
- Mishal Husain £275,000-£279,999 - no change
- Sara Cox £275,000-£279,999 - up from £270,000-£274,999
- Nick Robinson £270,000-£274,999 - no change
- Evan Davis £270,000-£274,999 - no change
- Andrew Marr £265,000-£269,999 - down from £335,000-£339,999
- Jo Whiley £265,000-£269,999 - down from £295,000-£299,999
- Laura Kuenssberg £260,000-£264,999 - no change
- Justin Webb £255,000-£259,999 - no change
- Clive Myrie £255,000-£259,999 - up from £205,000-£209,999
- Mark Chapman £250,000-£254,999 - no change
- Martha Kearney £245,000-£249,999 - down from £250,000-£254,999
- Kirsty Wark £245,000-£249,999 - up from £210,000-£214,999
- Sarah Montague £245,000-£249,999 - no change
- Victoria Derbyshire £240,000-£249,999 - up from £170,000-£174,999
- Faisal Islam £240,000-£249,999 - up from £205,000-£209,999
- Jeremy Bowen £230,000-£234,999 - up from £220,000-£224,999
- Jon Sopel £225,000-£229,999 - down from £230,000-£234,999
- Michael Vaughan £225,000-£229,999 - up from £175,000-£179,999
- Dan Walker £220,000-£224,999 - down from £295,000-£299,999
- Mary Berry £215,000-£219,999 - no change
- Jermaine Jenas £220,000-£224,999 - up from £195,000-£199,999
- Reeta Chakrabarti £200,000-£204,999 - up from £175,000-£179,999
- Louis Theroux £200,000-£204,999 - no change.
- Katya Adler £215,000-£219,999 - down from £220,000-£224,999
- Emma Barnett £215,000-£219,999 - down from £240,000-£249,999
- Fergal Keane £210,000-£214,999 - up from £205,000-£209,999
- Trevor Nelson £210,000-£214,999 - down from £230,000-£234,999
- Simon Jack £205,000-£209,999 - up from £190,000-£194,999
- Clare Balding £205,000-£209,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Micah Richards £200,000-£204,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Gabby Logan £200,000-£204,999 - up from £165,000-£169,999
- Alex Scott £195,000-£199,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Charlie Stayt £190,000-£194,999 - no change
- Sarah Smith £190,000-£194,999 - up from £185,000-£189,999
- Mark Easton £190,000-£194,999 - no change
- Sue Barker £185,000-£189,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Rachel Burden £180,000-£184,999 - down from £205,000-£209,999
- John McEnroe £180,000-£184,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Stephen Sackur £175,000-£179,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Jonathan Agnew £175,000-£179,999 - no change
- Ben Brown £170,000-£174,999 - no change
- Orla Guerin £160,000-£164,999 - no change
- Harpreet Bhullar £160,000-£164,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Colin Murray £160,000-£164,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Joanna Gosling £155,000-£159,999 - no change
- Chris Sutton £155,000-£159,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Clara Amfo £155,000-£159,999 - down from £165,000-£169,999
- Claudia Winkleman £155,000-£159,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Isa Guha £155,000-£159,999 - up from £150,000-£159,999
- Lyse Doucet £150,000-£154,999 - up from less than £150,000
- Steve Lamacq £150,000-£154,999 - down from £155,000-£159,999
- Nihal Arthanayake £150,000-£154,999 - no change
- Carolyn Quinn £150,000-£154,999 - no change
- Tony Livesey £150,000-£154,999 - up from less than £150,000
Because of that cut-off, it did mean there were 12 new names on the list who earned less than the cut off in 2021.
They include sports presenters Clare Balding, who bagged at least £55,000 extra, Micah Richards whose pay shot up by more than £50,000, and Alex Scott who trousered an extra £45,000.
There were also some notable omissions from the pay list.
Outgoing hosts Nick Grimshaw, Annie Mac, Louise Minchin and Shaun Keaveny were all gone.
Other names who were on the 2021 list but not on this year’s were Radio 2 newsreader Tina Daheley, and BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt.
The BBC has been accused of a “brain drain” with a number of household names all leaving the Beeb - and thus the wage bill - in the last few months.
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BBC insiders argue that the savings will far exceed the numbers in the report - because of a number of high-profile stars who have already left the Beeb or will leave soon.
Famous faces such as Emily Matlis, Jon Sopel and Andrew Marr all jumped ship to commercial rival Global.
While Graham Norton ditched the Beeb’s Radio 2 to join Virgin Radio, and Dan Walker quit BBC Breakfast to join Channel 5.
Director General Tim Davie said that there are further plans to “streamline” the organisation. He said that 1,200 public service roles were cut last year, and another 400 followed this financial year.
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The report says that in the last 12 months they made more than £274million in savings.
