Four male BBC presenters agree to pay cut over equal pay

Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Huw Edwards and Jon Sopel have all agreed to take a pay cut after equal pay revelations

Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Jon Sopel and Huw Edwards have all agreed to the salary reduction (photo: BBC)
Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Jon Sopel and Huw Edwards have all agreed to the salary reduction (photo: BBC)

Four male BBC presenters have agreed to take a pay cut after equal pay revelations.

Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Huw Edwards and Jon Sopel have all agreed, either formally or in principle, to reduce their salaries.

It follows Carrie Gracie's resignation from her post as BBC China editor in protest at unequal pay between male and female international editors.

Gracie revealed she had been earning £135,000 before the BBC offered her a £45,000 rise, which she rejected.

An independent audit into equal pay at the BBC will be published next week.

Last year, the broadcaster published a list of its top earners, setting out the pay for staff on more than £150,000, revealing a shocking gap in the earnings of its most well-known male and female presenters and actors.

Radio 2’s Chris Evans topped the list on more than £2m while the highest paid woman was Claudia Winkleman on between £450,000 and £499,999.

Humphrys, who presents the Radio 4 Today programme, was shown to earn between £600,000 and £650,000.

He said at the time: “I have taken a couple of sizeable, very large, very sizeable pay cuts just recently. How much? I don’t know ... Would I chop my salary in half? Maybe I would, I don’t know.”

Radio 2 host Vine was one of the highest paid stars, earning £700,000-£749,999, while BBC News presenter Edwards earned £550,000-£599,999 and Sopel, the BBC’s North America editor, received £200,000-£249,999.

The extent of the four presenters’ pay cuts is not yet known, BBC News reported.

The BBC's media editor, Amol Rajan, said whilst competition in the entertainment industry has intensified, the opposite has happened in news.

"Many of those now taking pay cuts secured generous deals years ago," he said.

"That world has disappeared - and these presenters now accept that a chunk of their salaries will have to disappear with it."