BBC 'pays presenters £230m a year'

The BBC is to reveal today that it pays its presenters and contributors about £230m a year. The corporation's "top talent", the elite band of presenters that include stars such as Jonathan Ross, Jeremy Paxman, Fiona Bruce and Graham Norton, are believed to be paid £70m between them. Details of the BBC's overall talent costs will be revealed for the first time in this way along with the quarterly survey of the salaries and expenses paid to more than 100 top executives. Gifts and hospitality enjoyed by senior BBC executives will also be revealed for the first time today. Talent salaries are to be published in bands, which are expected to show that about half of the total spending is on contracts worth £50,000 or less. But there will be no itemised breakdown of what individual presenters get paid . The pay of the BBC's top stars has drawn huge criticism in recent years, with commercial rivals accusing the BBC of overpaying for talent and causing "superinflation" of wages. Ross's £16.9m three-year deal, signed in mid-2006, has been a focus for particular criticism. The BBC's highest paid presenter revealed last month that he will be leaving the corporation in July when the deal ends . The issue has been particularly controversial given the contrast between the BBC's guaranteed £3.6bn annual income from the licence fee and the financial strain experienced by networks dependent on advertising such as ITV and Channel 4 during the recession. The BBC published detailed salary and expenses information for its top management for the first time in June last year , in a move towards greater transparency designed to appease its critics. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".