BBC gender pay gap revealed: men are two-thirds of the top earners The BBC has pledged to end a stark gender pay gap after admitting that two-thirds of its top-paid stars are […]

The BBC has pledged to end a stark gender pay gap after admitting that two-thirds of its top-paid stars are men.

The corporation is poised for a backlash following the publication on Wednesday of details of the salaries paid to its top talent.

Although figures such as Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg are among the high earners, Tony Hall, BBC Director General, admitted that the top tiers are dominated by male stars.

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“At the moment, of the talent earning over £150,000, two-thirds are men and one third are women,” he disclosed to staff at a briefing. “Is that where we want to be? No.”

Doctor Who news timing

Lord Hall promised “a clear and strong target for what we want to achieve by 2020: we want all our lead and presenting roles to be equally divided between men and women.”

The BBC has been accused of timing the announcement that Jodie Whittaker will be the first female Doctor Who to deflect anger over the embarrassing pay gap.

More than 60% of appointments to BBC jobs paying more than £150,000 a year are understood to have been women since 2013, including Kuenssberg and Today presenter Mishal Husain.

96 names will feature

Lord Hall revealed that just 96 names will be on the talent pay list, prompting speculation that some well-known faces may have employed contractual devices to avoid being named.

Lord Hall said Theresa May’s decision to require the BBC to publish salaries at a lower level than a previously-agreed £450,000, could be “inflationary – setting benchmarks and raising expectations.”

Poacher’s Charter

The Prime Minister had forced the BBC to “set up a Poacher’s Charter.”

Although the BBC must “employ the very best stars, writers, actors and and correspondents” in a competitive market now including Netflix, Lord Hall said the corporation would not be held to ransom by talent seeking pay rises to achieve parity with their peers.

“We’re not afraid to walk away if money becomes an issue,” he said of the negotiations certain to ensue.

He also urged less well-paid BBC staff not to look jealously upon their colleagues. “Comparing people’s pay is not straightforward. Very few do precisely the same thing – people working at the same show may have other, or different, commitments.”

The BBC “always tries to pay people at a discount to the market,” the Director-General said.

Lord Hall said the BBC would publish the names of everyone, on-screen and on-air, who earned more than £150,000 in pay bands, divided into categories such as News, Sport and Radio.

Star names who work across television and radio will have their earnings aggregated.

BBC executive salaries, which will also be published, are set to show a fall in the bill to £42.2m.

Comment When the BBC publishes its annual report this morning, Director-General Tony Hall will direct the assembled media towards a hard-earned 10% fall in its pay bill for top talent. And the press corps will smile politely and dive straight towards the table listing by name and salary band, the star names paid more than £150,000. Is newscaster Huw Edwards paid more than Fiona Bruce? Has John Humphrys taken a modest cut to help achieve a little more Today programme parity with Mishal Husain? Shouldn’t Clare Balding be worth more than Gary Lineker? Whilst publication day will be excruciating for familiar faces who find they are paid a significant wedge less than a colleague, it is the gender pay gap which will be of most concern to BBC executives, who have set themselves unsparing diversity targets. Current estimates put the UK’s gender pay gap at around 18% nationwide. The BBC has to demonstrate that its own pay gap is narrowing at a faster rate than comparable national flag-carriers. In an era of licence-fee restraint, the BBC has to attract the best talent in a competitive market, deliver genuine pay parity for its female stars, whilst cutting its overall spend on big names to keep Ministers happy. It’s understandable why for Lord Hall, the “transparency” of salary disclosure is simply a Tory gift to the Daily Mail which will only create internal ill-feeling and set off an inflationary spiral. For the BBC, a Winter pay round is coming. Now how much will Jodie Whittaker get?

@adamsherwin10