BBC 'Talent' pay revealed

The gender difference is pretty shocking but we could have found that without this attempt at scapegoating.

As for overall, these are going to be much less than for the commercial sector in most instances, we need those to be revealed to be able to comment adequately (and see if the gender gap is there or even greater). We have such a small part of the picture that it means nothing, actors, production companies, commercial rivals. I imagine Norton also has other revenue streams that bypass this area, for example.

It just seems to a vindictive attack on small percentage of the entertainment industry.

I don't know the dates the pay covered but Claudia did present the Sewing Bee and one series of Film 2016 in 2016.

I never understand why Chris Evans gets paid so much. I don't dislike him but he's nothing special.

I don't object to some of them getting paid what they do as it's a competitive industry, it's when they're not very good that it's bizarre. A lot of the people high up on the list have been loyal to the BBC so, again, I don't mind.

Some of the acting salaries are beyond me (I watch the programmes involved), I think some of it is down to loyalty, but a couple of them are way too high.

A valid point a friend made on twitter; relative to say footballer wages these are small change.

I also don't mind them being paid a lot- most of those on the highest wages are either top 'talent' (well mostly) and/or longitude of service (I'm mocking wee Charlie/Martin Freeman's Dad but he's put in the time and been an 'anchor' for the show) But the differences between pay is for gender/BAME is obviously the bigger issue.

I assume Cathy Shipton gets some kind of longevity bonus too even though she's come and gone more than once over the years.

How is John Inverdale worth so much? I wouldn't pay 20p to put him out if his shoes were on fire.

That's the only thing I can think about Cathy Shipton but it's not like she was an in demand actress and they had to poach her from elsewhere. I'd get rid of all three of the highest paid from Casualty.

I'm surprised Sue Perkins is not on the list. The Bake Off would be in that time period plus she does other bits.

I think the figure I saw for BBC presenter Gary Lineker was £1.75m per annum. Staggering in its own right, but then he also pops up on subscription channel BT Sport on some of the football programmes so that is another undeclared-here source of income from a private company. Perhaps he gets the money for the being the least worse football programme presenter there is, bloody awful puns and all. 

Some are paid via Private Companies so no Mary Berry, Matt LeBlanc. Radio 2 appears to be the place to work - I would have thought Ken Bruce and Jo Wiley would have been on more than Lauren Laverne especially as Jo does Glastonbury and Ken has been on Radio 2 for like 35 years.

Louise Minchin not being listed is a surprise as she is main BBC Breakfast female and does Triathlon presenting too, Naga is on the list and Dan Walker does Football Focus to boost his earnings.

Leftie Lineker must be raking it in, with this salary and his lucrative Walkers Crisps contract on top. Jason Mohammed being higher than Gabby Logan, Jon Agnew and Clare Balding is a surprise too.

On the News side, I'd have thought John Simpson would have been higher given his seniority and length of service.

No mention of Sir David Attenborough either.

Graham Norton earns a lot via a production company too, I would have thought Evans would have gone this route as he had the old Ginger and UMTV companies back in the day. Also people can be paid for different roles - the old Dallas way whereby Larry Hagman would get producer, associate director credits to pay him extra as he was the main star but also so his acting pay didn't dwarf the rest of the cast's contracts.

The only salaries I think are outrageous are the ones over £500,000. I don't feel great talking about other people's earnings at the best of times and I can't see many positive effects of publishing these.

Apart from the hope this makes the BBC look again at the gender disparity (though some of that is covered by the different programmes they present) this is a pointless waste of time purely done to give the anti BBC tabloids some ammunition.

It's interesting that Tory MP's weren't so keen on transparency when it was applied to their expenses and how much more do the editor of the Daily Mail and Sun earn than anyone at the BBC?

Given that we don't have the figures for the commercial sector it is impossible to put these in a wider context. Gary Linker may look expensive but if his ITV equivalent earns more then is it that bad.