Are they worth it - BBC announces high earners

[45156]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40653383

 

Oh dear, is that individual who is named as the highest paid BBC presenter actually worth even 1% of what he gets - being paid such massive sums for uttering no stop drivel with musical interludes seems a ludicrous wast of licence payers money.

Edited July 20, 2017 by 45156

[chris p bacon]

It's a while since we've had an Envy thread.

 

My monies on 3 pages before locking.

[Tony Davis]

Of course he isn't worth it, it's a massive amount of money and could be far better spent on other things., and not just because I find him irritating. I don't believe any individual in the publc funded sector should be paid that kind of money. In the case of individuals who are paid by attendances and, for example, record sales, then the public decides by virtue of ticket sales etc, but the BBC gets the money anyway and we have no say.

[Free At Last]

As a non licence payer I have no right to comment on the matter.

[45156]

It's a while since we've had an Envy thread.

 

My monies on 3 pages before locking.

No envy intended as my comment relates to the high amounts paid by the BBC to their "celebrities" - it just happens that the first mentioned is the highest paid, and IMHO the least talented.

 

He has already accmulated a vast fortunen by some quite astute business deals, and I don't grudge him that one iota.

I see Andy lurking, and assure that I have no contentious intent.

[Metr0Land]

As a non licence payer I have no right to comment on the matter.

 

I don't think that disqualifies you.  After all it's taxpayer's money.  I don't have kids but feel it's perfectly valid for me to have an opinion as to how education funds are spent etc etc

[Jim Martin]

I haven't even looked at the linked article but I can already tell who's top from the first few posts!

 

<edit> Okay, now I've checked: I was right <\edit>

 

Jim

Edited July 19, 2017 by Jim Martin

[Legend]

I don't think it really contains that many surprises .

 

If anything I'd question the worth of John MacEnroe . I mean doesn't he just commentate for Wimbledon, so he gets that pay for 2 weeks ? Sorry if I missed something there

 

I think Evans is over rated but I accept others think he's fantastic

 

Envy, well yes probably . I wouldn't mind a job I really love doing and being paid loadsamoney. If I win the Euromillions I'd set up a model shop ,as I don't think the income streams there otherwise!

[PhilH]

As a non licence payer I have no right to comment on the matter.

This is what I find most irksome about it all....if this was Sky et al I could say, do you know what, I'm opting out, not going to pay for it anymore. No such choice with this lot.

[Horsetan]

It's only worth it if you're the one earning the money.

 

....My money's on 3 pages before locking.

 

Is it worth placing a bet? 

[Arthur]

 

 

I'd like to see what the commercial channels pay their similar 'stars'. I know that's unlikely but the BBC justify these salaries by saying they need to be competitive in keeping/attracting the best talent.

 

I'm a little suspicious that this is not the case and that the 'value' of many of these people on the open market is a good deal less than they are paid. There's a bit of a whiff of an overpaid 'jobs for the boys' club here.

 

I do have some sympathy with those stars fronting shows which generate big overseas sales, e.g. Top Gear, deserving a share. I gather Evans' brief spell with Top Gear is being used to justify his salary.

 

Those staffers fronting shows broadcast only to licence/taxpayers are not essentially generating greater income by their presence. Do I need a £500,000/year newsreader? Hmmm...

 

.

[Zomboid]

Good for them.

 

Without the context of what people in the rest of the industry are earning in similar roles these are just numbers. Which are considerably larger than what most normal folk earn, but most of us don't work in that industry.

 

Since it's unlikely that we'll ever find out what sky, itv and commercial radio pay their headline acts, this whole exercise is pointless.

[Steven B]

Just to put it into perspective, Mr Evens gets around 9.4 million listeners each week. That's about 25p per listener per year to pay his wages. I suspect he could ask for a lot more on a commercial station.

 

Are they worth £100,000's for the job they do? Probably not but the same could be said for premiership footballers and many others in the entertainment industries. Worth and value to society rarely go with a decent pay packet.

 

Steven B.

[Arthur]

 

But it should not be pointless.

 

I don't mind the BBC paying a competitive salary for the job in hand.

 

I do mind if a publicly funded (i.e. me) organisation is paying salaries which are dreamed up internally with no checks and balance and with no reference to worth. It is not unreasonable to expect these bodies to manage the money they take (I have no choice) off me responsibly.

 

.

[Zomboid]

But it should not be pointless.

 

I don't mind the BBC paying a competitive salary for the job in hand.

 

I do mind if a publicly funded (i.e. me) organisation is paying salaries which are dreamed up internally with no checks and balance and with no reference to worth. It is not unreasonable to expect these bodies to manage the money they take (I have no choice) off me responsibly.

 

.

I agree. But we just don't have the information to make a judgement. I can compare my salary to Chris Evans, but all that would say is you get more money for being a radio presenter than an engineer.

[Legend]

Just to put it into perspective, Mr Evens gets around 9.4 million listeners each week. That's about 25p per listener per year to pay his wages. I suspect he could ask for a lot more on a commercial station.

 

Are they worth £100,000's for the job they do? Probably not but the same could be said for premiership footballers and many others in the entertainment industries. Worth and value to society rarely go with a decent pay packet.

 

Steven B.

I think the problem with this though is that it's the BBC and therefore public money. If Chris Evans was at Sky he probably would be on the same , it's the fact that he works for a publicly owned body that is the issue .So folks do the comparison, how many surgeons would that pay for etc etc

 

I don't really have a problem with the pay as such . As others have said unless you have something to compare it with it's essentially meaningless. Also a more useful stat might be how much paid by hours worked . Using my MacEnroe example , he may actually be the costliest per hour given the limited number of hours on air.

 

I used to be a firm supporter of the Licence Fee, but know what, I find I'm spending less and less watching the telly and even less of it on BBC. I used to tune in avidly for the news at 6 and 10, but it's certainly dumbed down and there are some recurrent themes the BBC just love getting their teeth into , like the NHS . Similarly Jeremy Vine seems to be constantly on about health issues. Last week it was partners dieing shortly after their spouse had died. Truly cheerful and inspiring stuff......not . Today it's out of body experiences! Should I pay for that . Given the choice I wouldn't. I find that my support for the BBC is simply because it's a British Institution. I'm wondering if it's past it's time . Maybe sell it off to Sky , then how much the stars get paid will be secret again and it'll be up to the consumers to pay for it.

[Zomboid]

One way to gain an appreciation of the BBC is to watch a couple of days of American TV.

If the BBC didn't exist, sky and itv would probably be a lot more like that.

[brigo]

And of course that list today doesn't include the around 100 directors, controllers, etc who are on over £150,000

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/corporate2/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/

 

Brian

[Gilbert]

As a non licence payer I have no right to comment on the matter.

 This is rmweb - don't let that logic stop you..

[4630]

It was fairly entertaining listening to Jeremy Vine squirm earlier on when taken to task about his salary by a caller on his programme.

[chris p bacon]

Whenever people moan abut the BBC and paying a license fee I'm always reminded of trip to America in 2005/6 and what the alternative can be.

 

We stepped onto a plane at Heathrow and flew to Miami, when we set off it was a lovely sunny day, when we arrived at the hotel Madam flicked the hotel room tv on to find some music, as the TV flickered into life it was on Fox News, the headline was "When do we Nuke Iran" I looked at Lady Bacon and said 'what the heck happened while we were in the air'.

 

That would be funny, but wherever we go in the world the Beeb for all its faults is regarded as probably the best broadcaster. It isn't ideal but the argument that "I don't watch it so shouldn't pay for it" doesn't count, My labourer reckons he should have a reduction in his tax as he pays for other peoples children to be educated while he pays for private education for his own child.

[Legend]

One way to gain an appreciation of the BBC is to watch a couple of days of American TV.

If the BBC didn't exist, sky and itv would probably be a lot more like that.

Possible, but wouldn't it just be more like ITV, Channel 4 and 5, E4 , Sky News etc etc . We know what British TV would be like without the BBC , because the rest is already in existence.

[chris p bacon]

Possible, but wouldn't it just be more like ITV, Channel 4 and 5, E4 , Sky News etc etc . We know what British TV would be like without the BBC , because the rest is already in existence.

I think you need to look at countries with purely commercial TV, it bears no resemblance to the commercial channels here.

[Zomboid]

The fact that we have a broadcaster with no adverts and a remit to provide some kind of quality keeps the standards up and advert count reasonable on the competition. At least that's my opinion.

 

Yes there's rubbish out there, and some of it is on the BBC, but without its influence in the "marketplace" we'd be worse off overall, whether you choose to use it directly or not.

[EddieB]

Whenever people moan abut the BBC and paying a license fee I'm always reminded of trip to America in 2005/6 and what the alternative can be.

 

We stepped onto a plane at Heathrow and flew to Miami, when we set off it was a lovely sunny day, when we arrived at the hotel Madam flicked the hotel room tv on to find some music, as the TV flickered into life it was on Fox News, the headline was "When do we Nuke Iran" I looked at Lady Bacon and said 'what the heck happened while we were in the air'.

 

That would be funny, but wherever we go in the world the Beeb for all its faults is regarded as probably the best broadcaster.

Back in 2005, perhaps, but BBC TV news coverage has gone backwards since then and has been overtaken by other channels including Al-Jazeera.