Latest news with #GaryLineker
Scotsman
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
BBC Rich List 2025: Here are the 15 biggest earners at the Beeb according to latest figures
For the eigth year in a row Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has topped the list of the BBC's best-paid stars - with earnings of £1.35million. But it will be the last time the former professional footballer will appear on the list, as he has now left the BBC following a string of controversies. He was paid more than double the salary of second placed DJ Zoe Ball, who left her BBC Radio 2 three quarters of the way through the financial year before returning to present a Saturday show in May. Of the 20 highest earners 13 are men and seven women, while 11 were involved in news and political coverage. It should be noted that the list doesn't tell the whole story, as the BBC doesn't need to make public the salaries of those paid through independent production companies ot through its BBC Studios commercial arm. It means the likes of comedian Michael McIntyre , The One Show's Alex Jones, music presenter Jools Holland, Pointless host Alexander Armstrong, and stars of shows including Eastenders and Doctor Who are not included - despite being probable high earners. The figures we are using are the salary brackets the BBC employees fall into, spanning £4,999 of earnings. Here are the 15 stars that took home the most in 2024/25. 1 . Gary Lineker Sports prenter and former English footballer Gary Lineker remains the BBC's top earner by quite some distance. He took home over £1,350,000 in 2024/25 for hosting the likes of Match Of The Day, BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, and FA Cup coverage. He earned the same amount in the previous three years. This will be the last year he wall appear on the list, having 'stepped back' from presenting for the BBC. | Getty Images for Premier League Photo Sales 2 . Zoe Ball BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Zoe Ball is the corporation's highest paid female star with a salary of £515,000 - £519,999 -despite leaving the corporation half way through the year. Last year, she was paid £950,000-£954,999. | Getty Images Photo Sales 3 . Alan Shearer Alan Shearer was paid £440,000 - £444,999 for football punditry on Match of the Day. That's up from £380,000 - £384,999 last year. | Getty Images Photo Sales 4 . Greg James Radio 1 Breakfast Show Greg James was paid £425,000 - £429,999 in 2024/25. That's a £10,000 increase on the year before. | Getty Images Photo Sales
South Wales Argus
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
The highest paid BBC stars as the full salaries revealed
The salaries are published as part of the BBC's annual report and do not include people who are paid through independent production companies or the BBC's commercial arm BBC Studios. The highest earner for the period was former Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, marking his final time on the list. The 64-year-old, who left the BBC early at the end of the last Premier League season in May, was reported to have earned between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999. Radio presenter Zoe Ball was the second highest-paid, earning between £515,000 and £519,999, for her work on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, which she left on December 20 last year. Ball has since returned to a new Saturday afternoon show on the station, which she began hosting in May 2025. Full list of the highest-paid BBC stars Below you can see the full list of all the highest-paid BBC stars and their salaries. The equivalent salary band for 2023/24 is shown in brackets, with a description of the year-on-year change. Match Of The Day pundit Alan Shearer was the third-highest earner with a salary of between £440,000 and £444,999. The former Newcastle United striker will continue to analyse football on the BBC in the new season with Match Of The Day's incoming presenters Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan. Recommended Reading His pay also covered work on the BBC's coverage of European football competitions, such as the UEFA Champions League. BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Greg James came fourth on the list, earning between £425,000 and £429,999, for work which also included his Radio 4 show Rewinder, while Fiona Bruce and Nick Robinson were the joint fifth-highest earners, with both earning between £410,000 and £414,999. Bruce's pay covered her work on Question Time and other presenting work on BBC One and coverage of the UK general election, while Robinson's included his presenting work, Political Thinking and Today podcasts, and his work covering the UK general election.
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
How the BBC got into a mess over Gaza
On Monday, the BBC released its long-awaited report into its decision to remove the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone from its platforms. The report determined that not making viewers aware of the fact that the narrator's father was a member of the Hamas-run government of Gaza constituted a breach of its editorial policies, specifically on accuracy. However, the documentary was not found to have breached guidelines on impartiality. As the Guardian's media editor Michael Savage tells Helen Pidd, the release of this report has come after a particularly intense period for the BBC, in which its handling of the war in Gaza has been heavily criticised. In response to the resignation of Gary Lineker, its coverage of Glastonbury performers, and its decision not to broadcast certain documentaries, the BBC has faced heightened criticism from many sides in the conflict. The pair discuss how the Labour government is approaching the BBC, the shrinking number of licence fee subscribers, and whether this string of controversies will change the way the corporation approaches more sensitive issues. Support the Guardian today:
Glasgow Times
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
BBC's top 10 highest earners revealed. See the full list
The 64-year-old, who left the BBC at the end of the last Premier League season in May, was reported to have earned between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 in the corporation's latest annual report for 2024/2025, for his work on Match Of The Day and coverage of European football. FORMER Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker has topped the list of the BBC 's highest-earning on-air talent for the eighth consecutive year and the final time. Radio presenter Zoe Ball was the second highest-paid, earning between £515,000 and £519,999, for her work on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, which she left on December 20 last year. READ NEXT: TRNSMT act admits wardrobe malfunction on stage - but gie' it laldy for fans READ NEXT: Singer who performs with music legend does solo show at TRNSMT Ball has since returned to a new Saturday afternoon show on the station, which she began hosting in May 2025. Match Of The Day pundit Alan Shearer was the third-highest earner with a salary of between £440,000 and £444,999. Shearer will continue to analyse football on the BBC in the new season with Match Of The Day's incoming presenters Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman, and Gabby Logan. His pay also covered work on the BBC's coverage of European football competitions, such as the Uefa Champions League. The 10 ten BBC highest earners Gary Lineker: Between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 Zoe Ball: Between £515,000 and £519,999 Alan Shearer: Between £440,000 and £444,999 Greg James: Between £425,000 and £429,999 Fiona Bruce: Between £410,000 and £414,999 Nick Robinson: Between £410,000 and £414,999 Stephen Nolan: Between £405,000 and £409,999 Laura Kuenssberg: Between £395,000 and £399,999 Vernon Kay: Between £390,000 and £394,999 Justin Webb: Between £365,000 and £369,999. BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Greg James came fourth on the list for work which also included his Radio 4 show Rewinder, while Fiona Bruce and Nick Robinson were the joint fifth-highest earners. Bruce's pay covered her work on Question Time and other presenting work on BBC One and coverage of the UK General Election, while Robinson's included his presenting work, Political Thinking and Today podcasts, and his work covering the UK General Election. The publication of salaries comes after former England striker Lineker left his presenting role earlier than planned following a social media row after he shared a post about Zionism which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an antisemitic insult. Lineker issued an unreserved apology for the incident, and will no longer front the BBC's coverage of the 2026 World Cup or the FA Cup next season. The rest of the top 10 was made up of BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Stephen Nolan, who earned between £405,000 and £409,999, TV presenter Laura Kuenssberg, who earned between £395,000 and £399,999, BBC Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay, who earned between £390,000 and £394,999, and journalist Justin Webb, who earned between £365,000 and £369,999. The annual report and salary reveal comes as the BBC has made headlines over its coverage of the Glastonbury Festival, the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, and a report into Gregg Wallace's behaviour on MasterChef. On Monday, Wallace's MasterChef co-host John Torode confirmed he had a standalone allegation of racist language upheld in the same report.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC sacks several people over 'abusive behaviour'
The BBC has confirmed that several members of staff have been sacked following a recent review into the corporation's culture. But Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC, acknowledged that some powerful individuals still make life "unbearable" for their colleagues. His comments came as MasterChef was plunged into crisis, with a report on Monday upholding 45 allegations about Gregg Wallace's behaviour on the BBC show, and another against co-host John Torode of using racist language. On Tuesday, the corporation released its annual report, which revealed that former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was the BBC's top paid presenter for the eighth year running. Lineker earned between £1,350,000 - £1,354,99 in the last financial year, followed by former Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball on £515,000 - £519,999. The full list of star salaries Some BBC stars behave unacceptably, report says Speaking as the report was released, Shah acknowledged that over the past year, there had been a "string of revelations" about abuses of power at the BBC. "Our staff are dedicated, hardworking and treat each other with respect," he said. "However, there are pockets in the organisation where this is not the case. There are still places where powerful individuals - on and off-screen - can abuse that power to make life for their colleagues unbearable." He said people had been dismissed following the review, which came out in April, but did not give any more information about who they were. Addressing the MasterChef controversy, BBC director general Tim Davie insisted the cooking show "absolutely" has a future, adding that it was "much bigger than individuals". But he refused to say what would happen to the unseen series - which was filmed last year with both Wallace and Torode in it. Wallace has been sacked from the show. Davie also did not comment on whether Torode would now also be sacked, saying that the production company Banijay was leading the process. "The BBC, in some ways, we're quite simple on this, which is if someone is found to not live up to the values, we expect the independent company, Banijay in this case, to take action and report back to us on what they have done. "These aren't BBC employees, but we absolutely expect action to be taken." Wallace apologised after the inquiry reported back on Monday, while Torode said he had "no recollection" of the alleged incident, adding: "I do not believe that it happened." As usual, the BBC's annual report does not paint the full picture of what star presenters at the BBC earn. A huge number are not listed because the corporation does not have to make public the salaries of stars who are paid through its commercial arm BBC Studios or via independent production companies. Strictly speaking, the figures disclosed as part of the annual report are not "salaries" – but rather, relate to pay that individuals receive within the financial year. Lineker signed off from his final edition of Match of the Day in May after 26 years in the hot seat. He had been due to remain with the BBC to front coverage of the men's FA Cup and the World Cup, but in the end, left the corporation completely after apologising for reposting a social media post about Zionism that included an illustration considered antisemitic. His salary remained the same as last year's, while Zoe Ball's has dropped from the previous year's £950,000-£954,999, reflecting her departure from the Radio 2 breakfast show to take up a new role fronting Saturday afternoons on the station. Lineker's salary is still included in the BBC's latest annual report as he's only just left, but next year he will no longer be listed. Zoe Ball hosted her final Radio 2 breakfast show in December after six years in the slot, and took up her new Saturday afternoon role in May. Elsewhere, director general Tim Davie's salary has gone up by £20k from last year (£527k) to £547k, representing a 3.8% pay rise. The BBC's licence fee is set by the culture secretary. This year income generated by the licence fee increased from £3.7 to £3.8bn after inflation. The report stated there was a drop in the number of households paying the licence fee, from 23,131,000 in 2024 to 22,772,000 in 2025 - a drop of 359,000. This represents a decline of 1.56%, compared with last year's drop of 1.26%. That number is holding up fairly well, declining less quickly than might be expected given the competition from streaming services. The report also revealed 50% of UK adults think the BBC is effective at providing impartial news and current affairs, an uptick of 5% on last year's 45% of those surveyed. A further 63% of UK adults think the BBC is effective at providing accurate news and current affairs, compared to last year's 59%. The number of adults using BBC services weekly last year declined slightly from 75% to 74%, though 70% of under 16s use BBC services including TV, iPlayer, radio and online content on a weekly basis. Of those platforms, iPlayer is the fastest growing platform for long-form content. The report also showed that 10 out of 10 of Christmas Day top shows were from the BBC - but that includes King's speech which is also broadcast on other channels. John Torode says allegation he used racist language upheld in MasterChef report Wallace 'sorry' after 45 claims against him upheld The stars you won't see on the BBC salaries list How much is the BBC licence fee and who needs one? The BBC annual group report and accounts in full The BBC's annual report comes in the wake of a series of controversies faced by the corporation. As well as MasterChef, they include Glastonbury and the decision to broadcast Bob Vylan's set. Earlier this year, a documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was pulled from iPlayer after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. On Monday, a report concluded the documentary breached editorial guidelines on accuracy. It stated the BBC bears "some responsibility" for "not being sufficiently proactive" in the early stages of the project, and for a "lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions" - although the report said the independent film company behind it, Hoyo Films, bore the most responsibility for this failure. Gregg Wallace sacked as 50 more people make claims
