How do the BBC’s highest paid newsreaders compare with their rivals on ITV, Sky and Channel 4?
We all now know what Huw Edwards and John Humphrys earn at the Corporation. But what about commercial rivals Robert Peston, Tom Bradby, Jon Snow and Adam Boulton?
On Wednesday, the BBC’s highest on-screen earners were revealed – with much attention focusing on news presenters such as Huw Edwards and John Humphrys.
Today host Humphrys took home between £600,000 and £649,999 in the year to April 2017 according to BBC figures, with News at Ten newsreader Huw Edwards just behind him in the £550,000 - £599,999 bracket.
But what of rival broadcasters like ITV, Channel 4 and Sky? How do they compare when it comes to the salaries of their current affairs presenters?
It is understood that at least one of ITN’s big stars enjoys a slightly lower remuneration than the BBC's biggest beasts with sources putting ITV political editor Robert Peston’s earnings between £300,000 and £400,000. He appears on ITV News and has his own Peston on Sunday show on the network.
However, ITV’s regular 10pm news presenter Tom Bradby is believed to earn a “similar amount to Edwards”, according to ITV sources, a claim which would put his salary in the region of just over £500,000 per year.
And Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow is rumoured to be the wealthiest of all in the ITN firmament with sources putting his earnings at around £1m a year. Snow does have the advantage of being a long-standing servant of ITN, having been a front-line reporter for the service since 1976.
Sky News's best-known presenter Adam Boulton is believed to have been paid upwards of £400,000 a year in his former role as political editor, which he had occupied until 2014. However his salary is said to have increased substantially since then and is believed to be hovering around the £500,000 mark.
Based on those figures, it seems the BBC is paying the going rate, or below, which may give some critics of the pay revelations pause for thought.
