The publication of the BBC ‘rich list’ of highest-paid stars has prompted fresh questions over the licence fee and value for money.
Direct comparisons are hard to make as the BBC’s competitors do not have the same obligation to confirm salaries.
Yet reported salaries for well known- on air talent at rival broadcasters suggest some of those featured on the BBC’s £100m list are, if anything, underpaid.
1. Jon Snow v Huw Edwards
Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow is reportedly the highest paid newsreader in Britain with a staggering salary of £1m.
The figure is almost double the pay of BBC News at Ten presenter Huw Edwards, who earned between £550-599,999 last year.
Snow, who was recently forced to deny claims he chanted “fuck the Tories” at Glastonbury, has said little publicly about his remuneration.
2. Robert Peston v Laura Kuenssberg
ITV’s political editor reportedly commands a six-figure premium over his BBC counterpart.
Robert Peston is thought to earn at least £330,000 a year at the commercial broadcaster, some £130,000 more than the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
While Peston has his own Sunday programme on the channel, Kuenssberg is expected to contribute to flagship BBC programmes on television, radio and to write copy for use online.
And Peston told the Daily Telegraph his move from the corporation was in part driven by money.
Stars themselves have confirmed the generous deals available outside the Beeb.
Andrew Marr said in a statement: “In the past I have been offered deals by the BBC’s commercial rivals at a higher rate than the corporation would pay.”
But it’s not just top on-air talent who provide value for money. BBC Director General Tony Hall is paid less than many of his executive rivals.
3. ITV plc - Dame Carolyn McCall v Tony Hall
ITV’s new chief executive has been hired on a contract which could potentially dwarf that of her BBC equivalent Lord Tony Hall to the tune of multiple millions.
Dame Carolyn McCall, who will join the commercial broadcaster from airline EasyJet next year, has reportedly signed up to a base salary of £900,000 - with the potential to earn an additional £25.2m over five years.
ITV has around 6,000 employees and earned revenue of £3.04bn last year.
Hall meanwhile takes home £450-499,999 at the Beeb, which had around 19,254 staff last year, and drew in almost £5bn from the licence fee and sales of its shows worldwide.
McCall might take a dim view of newly-exposed gender pay cap at the BBC, having said previously: “The pay gap is unacceptable after 45 years of equal pay legislation.”
4. Channel 4 - Alex Mahon v Tony Hall
Channel 4′s new chief executive will also earn £900,000, considerably more than Hall’s £499,999 maximum.
Alex Mahon will take up the role in October, becoming the first woman to take the helm of the publicly-owned, privately-funded broadcaster in its 35-year history.
But Channel 4 had a corporate revenue of just £995m last year and a staff of 727 - a fraction of the BBC’s.
5. Sky plc - Jeremy Darroch v Tony Hall
Sky’s current chief executive has earned a mammoth £68 million in pay and benefits since he took over the role ten years ago.
Jeremy Darroch has averaged a whopping £6.8m a year in pay.
Sky earned a revenue of £11.965m last year and employs 30,000 people.
Darroch looks set to profit again, too, with a thick cut of the proceeds of a potential sale of Sky to Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
He could be in line for as much as £20m, the Guardian reported.