Highest-paid BBC stars fail to make top 10 in all-time greats list

When it came to their BBC wages, they came out on top.

But it seems the bumper pay packets of the likes of Graham Norton, Chris Evans and Jeremy Vine does not necessarily to translate into acclaim from their colleagues.

The BBC's highest paid presenters failed to make the top 10 in a list of all-time radio greats, voted for by broadcasters and industry experts.

Chris Evans came in at 26, Jeremy Vine at 41, Steve Wright at 36, Graham Norton at 39, and John Humphrys at 13.

Instead, the top ten included Jane Garvey and Dame Jenni Murray, the Radio 4 Woman's Hour presenters who have campaigned for equal pay at the BBC. 

Figures revealed earlier this year showed that Evans was the best-paid BBC star, earning between £2.2m and £2.25m in 2016/2017. 

Norton came in third, earning in the £800,000 to £850,000 bracket, while Vine came in fourth, earning £700,000 to £750,000.

Murray and Garvey did not appear on the list at all, meaning their salaries were less than £150,000 last year. 

Garvey later co-ordinated a letter co-signed by more than 40 women protesting the gender pay gap at the corporation. 

The list, compiled by the Radio Times to celebrate 50 years since the launch of Radio 1 and creation of 2, 3 and 4, asked leading industry figures to name their top 15 broadcasters from the last half-century.

The names were then compiled and ranked to create the top 50, with the late Sir Terry Wogan voted into number one. 

John Peel was in second place, followed by Sue McGregor.

Radio 1’s longest serving DJ, Annie Nightingale came fourth, with Alistair Cooke, whose weekly Letter from America was broadcast for 58 years, between 1946 and 2004, came fifth. 

Jane Garvey was in seventh place and Jenni Murray in tenth. 

Kenny Everett, who was sacked by the BBC, came sixth on the list, longtime Sorry I Haven’t a Clue chairman Humphrey Lyttelton was eighth and Radio 4’s PM presenter Eddie Mair is in ninth position.