The BBC has slashed its talent pay bill by around £2 million ($2.8M) after some of the UK broadcaster’s biggest names, including presenter Gary Lineker, agreed to salary cuts.
The BBC will publish its annual report on Tuesday and the document will show that 10% has been knocked off the £21.7M it spent on star salaries last year. It means the BBC’s talent pay bill for the year to the end of March 2021 was £19.6M.
Match Of The Day host Lineker agreed to give up around £400,000 of his £1.75M salary last year as part of a new five-year contract, while it was reported that BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball requested that her £1.36M pay packet be reduced.
The BBC has been required to publish how much its stars earn since 2017, but the disclosures do not provide the full picture. Commerical arm BBC Studios is exempt from the transparency measures, for example, meaning we know how much Claudia Winkleman earns for presenting on BBC radio, but not how much she gets for hosting Strictly Come Dancing.
Work through independent producers is also not included, so we don’t know how much Graham Norton takes home for hosting BBC One’s The Graham Norton Show.
A BBC source said: “Everyone knows that the last year in lockdown has been a challenge for everyone. The BBC will be releasing a report that shows we have made a difference to the public during this challenging period. While doing that, the BBC has also been reforming at pace. The report will feature a range of measures that show real and tangible progress.
“For example, our pay bill for top talent is down by 10 percent. This is not an isolated figure, but one of a range of other stats that demonstrate we are on the right path. None of this means the BBC is complacent. We have to continue to work hard to deliver for the public. That is where we are investing all our efforts.”