BBC’s prime earners: Huw Edwards third regardless of being off air

Gary Lineker is the BBC‘s highest paid star for the seventh year running with Huw Edwards in third despite only being on air for three months following a sex pics scandal, according to the corporation’s annual report.

New talent pay figures released today show that Edwards, 62, saw his pay increase shoot up from up to £439,999 to up to £479,999 in the year ending April 2024 he was mostly off-air.

This put him only behind Match of the Day host, Gary Lineker, who was once again the BBC’s highest paid star on £1.35 million and Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball, who brought in up to £954,999.

Not all of the BBC’s highest-earners appear in the report, with stars employed through production companies or BBC Studios exempt in order to maintain a level playing field on the commercial market.

Stars who are excluded include Michael McIntyre, Bradley Walsh, Alex Jones, Paddy McGuinness, Claudia Winkleman, Romesh Ranganathan, Alexander Armstrong, Richard Osman, Lord Sugar and Graham Norton.

It means none of Strictly’s stars are named in the list at a time when the programme is facing intense scrutiny over its treatment of celebrities. BBC boss Tim Davie today apologised for stars’ negative experiences on the show.

The figures also revealed that Today programme presenter Nick Robinson has broken into the top ten after his pay rocketed from up to £279,000 to as much as £349,999, in the region of a £70,000 increase – the biggest on the list.

Radio 1 breakfast host Greg James moved up the list to become the fourth highest paid star at the BBC, up from seventh last year, with his pay jumping from up to £399,999 to £419,999 this time round.

Question Time and BBC News presenter Fiona Bruce and Radio 5 Live presenter Stephen Nolan were in joint fifth position both getting up to £409,999.

They were followed by Desert Island Discs and 6 Music host Lauren Laverne, who was paid up to £399,999 and is one of four women in the top ten.

Alan Shearer, who without a major international football tournament on saw his pay drop from up to £449,999 to as much as £384,999, putting him seventh on the list.

In joint ninth with Nick Robinson, was BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty, whose pay went up slightly to £349,999.

Most of the presenters listed had posted pay rises, with another Today presenter Justin Webb enjoying about a £40,000 pay hike, with BBC News presenter Reeta Chakrabarti getting an even bigger increase in the region of £55,000 to up to £274,999.

But it will be the pay of Huw Edwards that will raise the most eyebrows given his absence from TV screens for most of the year in question.

His huge pay packet, making him the highest paid newsreader at the BBC, comes despite the fact he was suspended last July over the explicit picture allegations and never returned to air.

In April, the former News at Ten host announced he was stepping down from the BBC ‘on the basis of medical advice from his doctors’.

This was nine months after allegations he paid a teenager thousands of pounds for sexual images had become public.

The BBC said that in the year 2023-24 some 35 million UK adults accessed its services each day, and the organisation is now the only British firm in the top five most-used media brands for young people.

Three quarters of UK adults use BBC News each week and the organisation contributed almost £5 billion to the economy last year. 

Meanwhile 30 million adults listen to BBC radio stations each week, with Radio 2 proving the most popular in the country.

Radio 4 is the number one speech station and 6 Music the biggest digital-only service, the report added.

In a bid to diversify the organisation, the BBC’s Across the UK plan was described as ‘mission critical’ with bosses revealing they are on trach to exceed the target of spending £700 million outside of London.

Around 350 roles have been relocated outside of the capital, and the corporation says 54 percent of its workforce is based elsewhere.

But the BBC admitted its licences declined by two percent in the last 12 months, with overall licence revenue 30 percent less than it was in 2010 – a drop of more than £1 billion.

In a bid to save cash, the corporation has reduced its workforce by 10 percent, or 2,000 roles, in the last five years. 

And it revealed plans today to scrap another 500 full-time roles.

The figures make uncomfortable reading for the corporation at a time when it faces a series of damaging allegations concerning alleged treatment of contestants on Strictly Come Dancing.

At a press conference on Tuesday, BBC Director General Tim Davie said he was ‘sorry’ that some stars did not have a positive experience on the show.

‘I think that is something we do reflect on – I’m sorry about that,’ he added. 

Mr Davie saw his pay remain the same at up to £529,999 as the top paid BBC executive. 

He told journalists there will inevitably be ‘competitiveness, hard work and the will to do well’ on Strictly Come Dancing, adding: ‘But there are limits and the line should never be crossed. We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.’

Asked if he is confident the show will go ahead this series, he said: ‘I need to be assured we have the right safeguarding and duty of care in place, and that is the first question I ask.

‘I am assured by the robust actions we have taken in terms of the changes we have made … that we are in a position to deliver a very good season this year and that has been my focus.’

He continued: ‘With that assurance, I’m looking forward to the next season.’

Addressing how he felt when the allegations first emerged about the show, he said he was ‘disappointed’.

Professional Graziano Di Prima, 30, was axed from the show last week following claims he allegedly hit and spat at his dancing partner Zara McDermott, 27, during rehearsals.

Graziano has apologised for kicking his former partner and added other allegations do not align with ‘how he remembers it.’ 

Weeks before, Giovanni Pernice, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is conducted over claims of off-camera misconduct made by Amanda Abbingto, 50, and two other former celeb partners. He denies the claims.

Former contestant Will Bayley this week revealed he still suffers due to injuries he sustained during the show.

The Paralympic table tennis player said he suffered a serious injury while performing a jump in rehearsals for the programme in 2019, and claimed there was ‘no duty of care’.

He claimed producers were told the jump from a table during a routine was too dangerous, but he was encouraged to do it anyway, and after he was injured show bosses made him feel as though it was his fault.

Bayley has arthrogryposis, a condition which affects all of his limbs, and was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma during childhood.

He underwent reconstructive knee surgery in January last year after he was forced to withdraw from series 17 of the popular programme in week seven after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.

Bayley said he had a positive experience with his professional dance partner, Janette Manrara, but added that professionals could do with additional support when training contestants with disabilities.

He said: ‘There are things that could have gone gone better. My fall, my injury could have been avoided, just because I think that maybe professional dancers need extra support in the training hall if you’re working with someone with a severe disability.’

Bayley said he outlined what could be improved in letter to the BBC but was disheartened by the response he received.

Steve Backshall also complained that Ola Jordan ‘bullied’ him while on the programme in 2014. 

Meanwhile top earner Lineker has also seen his share of controversy over the last few months due to his statements on social media. 

A fierce row erupted last year over whether the football pundit should be bound by the BBC’s strict impartiality code.

It followed a tweet in which Lineker compared the government’s anti-migrant rhetoric as similar to that seen in Nazi Germany.

But the corporation sought to maintain its position as the UK’s ‘go to’ entertainment brand in its report on Tuesday. 

 

Samir Shah, BBC Chair, said: ‘The BBC matters deeply to the UK, and continues to play an important role on the global stage.

‘With the Board, I look forward to overseeing progress with the solid plans in place to preserve the benefits of public service broadcasting for all, and to ensure the BBC can deliver for audiences well into the future.’

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, said: ‘This year’s Annual Report shows how we are transforming at pace to deliver for all audiences in the digital age.

‘We remain firmly focussed on prioritising our resources into building a BBC for the future that can deliver crucial benefits for the UK at a critical time – and help support a healthy democracy, a thriving creative economy, and a strong society.’