Men continue to dominate the top 10 of the BBC’s highest earners despite the corporation narrowing the gender pay gap, figures revealed today.
Zoe Ball, Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz made it into the top 10 which last year was entirely made up of men - but they were still lagging behind the top earners.
Ball and Winkleman each took home between £370,000 to £374,999, with Feltz, who presents shows on Radio London and Radio Two, making between £355,000 and £359,999.
The BBC’s top earner was Match of the Day Gary Lineker who picked up between £1,750,000 and £1,754,999 for fronting its football coverage.
His co-star Alan Shearer earned between £440,000 and £444,999 while Graham Norton was paid between £610,000 and £614,999 and Steve Wright earned between £465,000 and £469,999.
The BBC’s annual report also revealed DJ Chris Evans, who quit last year to join Virgin Radio, earned between £1,250,000 and £1,254,999 for around 150 episodes of his Radio 2 Breakfast Show before handing over the reins to Ball.
Newsreader Huw Edwards, who earned between £490,000 and £494,999, and Andrew Marr, who took home between £390,000 and £394,999, also ranked above Ball, Winkleman and Feltz in the pay league.
Ball and Winkleman were in joint eighth positions.
Feltz was joint 10th, alongside Jason Mohammed who works on Radio Wales, Radio 2 and presents sport on TV.
But the figures showed the BBC’s gender pay gap has fallen from 9.3 per cent when it was first published in 2017 to 6.7 per cent in 2019.
The national median is 17.9 per cent.
Director General Tony Hall said the corporation had “turned the corner on gender pay”.
Speaking at the launch of the annual report this morning, Mr Hall said “record levels of efficiency and higher commercial returns” would ensure the BBC’s future.
He said: “The BBC has also turned the corner on gender pay. When we first published the figures for top talent, there was a 75:25 split between men and women. The projection for 2019/20 is now 55:45.
“This is significant change. The task is not complete, we are not complacent, but we are well on our way.”
The figures are released as the BBC faces criticism for the decision to scrap free TV licenses for over-75s.
The annual report also revealed the corporation is spending more on making its programmes which are being watched by less people.
BBC One spent £1,106,000 on content in 2018/19, compared to £1,009,000 the year before, but its audience reach fell from 68.9 per cent of the UK population to 66.7 per cent.
BBC Two’s audience reach fell from 44.6 per cent to 41.3 per cent while spending rose from £374 million to £381 million.
The report also revealed the BBC had dealt with 86 cases of bullying and harassment across the corporation including five cases of sexual harassment up from 51 in 2017/18.
