Highest annual earnings of BBC employees in the UK 2023
In July 2024, the BBC released annual information regarding employees’ salaries. Sports presenter Gary Lineker was the highest paid BBC employee, with an approximate income of 1.35 million British pounds. This was followed by radio presenter Zoe Ball, with her pay below the billion-pound mark.
Ken Bruce – the power of loyal fans
In mid-2023, after 30 years of employment at BBC, Ken Bruce, one of the highest-earning presenters of the company, left to work at a rival radio station. Bruce is known for his mellow presenting style and a trademarked Popmaster music quiz. He took both to his new employer. Even though BBC Radio 2 remains the leading radio station in the UK by audience numbers, Bruce’s departure meant a loss of a million listeners for the BBC between the first and second quarters of 2023. It is reported that these fans followed Bruce to his new mid-morning show on Greatest Hits Radio.
In general, the BBC runs national UK radio stations, as well as multiple regional and local radio services. The share of all BBC radio stations in the total listening time in the UK is just over 50 percent. BBC Radio 4 has always taken up the largest share of the corporation’s spending on radio programming, while Radio 5 live and Radio 2 follow suit.
BBC – sources of income
The majority of BBC’s income comes from the license fee. It is a tax which must be paid by each household in the UK in order to receive live television programming, stream online TV via the internet, or watch BBC programs on iPlayer. In 2023 the cost of the fee was 159 British pounds. More than 65 percent of the company’s income is attributed to this funding. The remainder of BBC income and revenue consists of commercial (mainly BBC Worldwide) income and Grant-in-Aid for World Service income. In total, BBC’s revenue from TV business and offerings surpassed 20 billion British pounds in 2022.