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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Craig Simpson, PA & Amardeep Bassey

BBC director-general's salary less than rival broadcaster bosses, report finds

The head of the BBC earns less than his counterparts at other UK media outlets, according to a report.

Lord Hall earns £400,000 a year as director-general of the public broadcasting service, National Audit Office (NAO) research into the BBC's pay bill has found.

NAO figures from other UK broadcasters show the head of Sky, Jeremy Darroch earns three times the salary of Lord Hall at £1.2million.

A former chief executive of the Royal Opera House Lord Hall also earns less than half of the £900,000 salary of the ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall and £20,000 less than Channel 4's chief executive Alex Mahon.

Lord Hall is responsible for more than double the staff of Sky, around four times that of ITV and 25 times more than Channel 4.

According to the NAO, Sky boss Mr Darroch receives additional incentives equalling £3.7m, making a total of £4.9m per year.

Lord Hall's extras are worth just £30,000, a 10th of those afforded to Channel 4's Ms Mahon.

The NAO have produced a report into BBC spending, which has found the broadcaster to be cutting costs and simplifying its pay practices following various controversies, including the salary of former China editor Carrie Gracie.

For 2017-18, the report found the "director-general of the BBC earned considerably less than the heads of media and other quasi-commercial, public bodies".

Lord Hall also earns less than, for example, Bank of England governor Mark Carney (£480,000) and Network Rail boss Andrew Haines (£682,000).

The figures are taken from the NAO analysis of latest available annual reports.

Broadcasters have been contacted for comment.

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