Gary Lineker is the BBC’s highest paid on-air talent for the sixth consecutive year and the only star to earn more than £1 million in the year 2022/2023, according to the corporation’s annual report.
While there are four women in the top 10 list of highest earners, none of them has broken the £1 million threshold.
The salaries of the corporation’s top talent have been unveiled today as part of a standard annual release of information, while the BBC is under pressure over allegations an unnamed presenter paid a teenager for explicit images.
The BBC has suspended a male member of staff after The Sun newspaper reported that he paid a young person around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.
Pundit Lineker was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 for work including Match Of The Day, coverage of the World Cup 2023 and Sports Personality Of The Year.
Lineker first topped the list for 2017/18 with a pay bracket of £1,750,000 to £1,759,999, and in 2020 it was announced he had taken a voluntary pay cut.
He is one of a number of BBC stars who have publicly denied they are the unnamed presenter at the centre of the scandal.
Zoe Ball continues to be the broadcaster’s second highest paid talent, and the highest paid woman with a salary of £980,000 – £984,999 for her Radio 2 breakfast show and a Radio 2 tribute to Terry Wogan.
Lineker’s Match Of The Day colleague Alan Shearer is in third place with a salary of £445,000 – £449,999, dropping from £450,000-£454,999 last year.
Huw Edwards is the corporation’s highest paid newsreader, with a pay bracket of £435,000 – £439,999, up from £410,000 – £414,000 last year, putting him fourth on the list.
The other women on the list are Question Time’s Fiona Bruce, with a pay bracket of £395,000 – £399,000, down £15,000 from last year; Desert Island Discs presenter Lauren Laverne, with a bracket of £390,000 – £394,999, up £10,000, and Sophie Raworth with £365,000-£369,999, up £60,000.
Radio star Stephen Nolan is the fifth highest paid person on the list, earning £400,000 – £404,999.
Ken Bruce, who left the BBC earlier this year after 31 years at the helm of the Radio 2 mid-morning weekday slot, was up £5,000, to £390,000-£394,999.
He is new to the top 10 this year along with Laverne and Raworth as Steve Wright, Vanessa Feltz and Scott Mills were pushed out of the list after leaving their respective BBC shows.
Wright is now just outside of the top 10, earning £360,000-£364,000, after stepping down from his daytime Radio 2 show last July as part of the station’s schedules shakeup.
Last year, Feltz was in the salary bracket of £400,000 – £404,999. She announced in July last year that she was leaving her shows on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio London.
Mills does not feature in the top 10 highest earners but is listed in the salary bracket of £300,000 to £304,999.
He left his BBC Radio 1 show after 24 years last August, but continues to present his afternoon slot on BBC Radio 2 which he began last November.
His salary bracket includes work on the Scott Mills And Chris Stark Show on BBC Radio 5 Live, and covering both Radio 1’s Big Weekend and the Radio 2 Jubilee Weekend.
The salaries of the top 10 highest on-air earners are notably lower on average than last year. While the majority of the high earners made more than £400,000 in 2021/22, this year a significant number earn less than £400,000.
Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, said: “I am proud of the content we have delivered – the very best of the BBC – from royal programming to wonderful sporting moments and coverage of the Ukraine war. We have seen this again recently, with Eurovision, the Coronation and Glastonbury.
“It remains a period of change, financial pressures and great competition in the media market. Our task is not always easy and we have to make some difficult choices.
“But these are challenges we must embrace as we know that the BBC is needed now more than ever, in an age of polarisation and increasing disinformation.”
Full list of celebrity salaries at the BBC
Here is a full list of BBC on-air salaries above £178,000 for 2022/23, as published in the corporation’s annual report.
The list is ranked by salary band, starting with the highest.
The equivalent salary band for 2021/22 is shown in brackets, with a description of the year-on-year change.
1. Gary Lineker £1,350,000-£1,354,999 (no change)
2. Zoe Ball £980,000-£984,999 (no change)
3. Alan Shearer £445,000-£449,999 (down from £450,000-£454,999)
4. Huw Edwards £435,000-£439,999 (up from £410,000-£414,999)
5. Stephen Nolan £400,000-£404,999 (down from £415,000-£419,999)
6. Fiona Bruce £395,000-£399,999 (down from £410,000-£414,999)
= Greg James £395,000-£399,999 (up from £390,000-£394,999)
8. Ken Bruce £390,000-£394,999 (up from £385,000-£389,999)
= Lauren Laverne £390,000-£394,999 (up from £380,000-£384,999)
10. Sophie Raworth £365,000-£369,999 (up from £305,000-£309,999)
11. Steve Wright £360,000-£364,999 (down from £450,000-£454,999)
12. George Alagiah £335,000-£339,999 (up from £325,000-£329,999)
= Naga Munchetty £335,000-£339,999 (down from £365,000-£369,999)
= Amol Rajan £335,000-£339,999 (up from £325,000-£329,999)
15. Mark Chapman £325,000-£329,999 (up from £250,000-£254,999)
16. Mishal Husain £315,000-£319,999 (up from £275,000-£279,999)
17. Laura Kuenssberg £305,000-£309,999 (up from £260,000-£264,999)
18. Scott Mills £300,000-£304,999 (down from £400,000-£404,999)
19. Nicky Campbell £295,000-£299,999 (no change)
= Victoria Derbyshire £295,000-£299,999 (up from £240,000-£244,999)
21. Sara Cox £285,000-£289,999 (up from £275,000-£279,999)
= Clive Myrie £285,000-£289,999 (up from £255,000-£259,999)
= Jeremy Vine £285,000-£289,999 (down from £290,000-£294,999)
24. Evan Davis £280,000-£284,999 (up from £270,000-£274,999)
= Kirsty Wark £280,000-£284,999 (up from £245,000-£249,999)
= Justin Webb £280,000-£284,999 (up from £255,000-£259,999)
27. Nick Robinson £275,000-£279,999 (up from £270,000-£274,999)
28. Ros Atkins £260,000-£264,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Martha Kearney £260,000-£264,999 (up from £255,000-£259,999)
30. Jason Mohammad £255,000-£259,999 (down from £285,000-£289,999)
31. Sarah Montague £245,000-£249,999 (no change)
32. Tina Daheley £240,000-£244,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Gabby Logan £240,000-£244,999 (up from £200,000-£204,999)
= Trevor Nelson £240,000-£244,999 (up from £210,000-£214,999)
35. Jeremy Bowen £230,000-£234,999 (no change)
= Faisal Islam £230,000-£234,999 (down from £240,000-£244,999)
= Jo Whiley £230,000-£234,999 (down from £265,000-£269,999)
38. Katya Adler £225,000-£229,999 (up from £215,000-£219,999)
= Chris Mason £225,000-£229,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
40. Sarah Smith £220,000-£224,999 (up from £190,000-£194,999)
41. Mary Berry £215,000-£219,999 (no change)
= Reeta Chakrabati £215,000-£219,999 (up from £200,000-£204,999)
= Fergal Keane £215,000-£219,999 (up from £210,000-£214,999)
44. Simon Jack £210,000-£214,999 (up from £205,000-£209,999)
45. Lyse Doucet £205,000-£209,999 (up from £150,000-£154,999)
= John McEnroe £205,000-£209,999 (up from £180,000-£184,999)
47. Louis Theroux £200,000-£204,999 (no change)
48. Rachel Burden £195,000-£199,999 (up from £180,000-£184,999)
= Jonny Dymond £195,000-£199,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Mark Easton £195,000-£199,999 (up from £190,000-£194,999)
= Stephen Sackur £190,000-£194,999 (up from £175,000-£179,999)
52. Charlie Stayt £190,000-£194,999 (no change)
= Jermaine Jenas £190,000-£194,999 (down from £220,000-£224,999)
54. Jonathan Agnew £185,000-£189,999 (up from £175,000-£179,999)
= Sue Barker £185,000-£189,999 (no change)
= Emma Barnett £185,000-£189,999 (down from £215,000-£219,999)
= Jon Kay £185,000-£189,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Colin Murray £185,000 -£189,999 (up from £160,000-£164,999)
= Alex Scott £185,000-£189,999 (down from £195,000-£199,999)
60. Matthew Amroliwala £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Clare Balding £178,000-£184,999 (down from £205,000-£209,999)
= Craig Charles £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Rick Edwards £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Orla Guerin £178,000-£184,999 (up from £160,000-£164,999)
= Yalda Hakim £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Sally Nugent £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= John Simpson £178,000-£184,999 (not listed in 2021/22)
= Michael Vaughan £178,000-£184,999 (down from £225,000-£229,999)
