BBC Salaries: Gary Lineker becomes only on-air BBC talent to earn more than £1 million

The 61-year-old pundit and former footballer was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 in 2021/2022 for work including Match Of The Day and Sports Personality Of The Year – a reduction of £10,000 on the previous year.

Lineker first topped the list for 2017/18 with a pay bracket of £1,750,000 to £1,759,999, and in 2020 it was announced he had taken a voluntary pay cut.

Zoe Ball remains the broadcaster’s second highest paid talent, with a salary of £980,000 to £984,999, but figures show her salary falling for a second consecutive year.

Her salary has now slipped to below £1 million and reflects approximately 210 editions of The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on Radio 2.

Alan Shearer has seen a year-on-year increase of £60,000, bringing his salary to £450,000-£454,999, which puts him joint third with Steve Wright, whose salary this year reflects a £15,000 decrease.

The corporation’s annual report for 2021/22, which also marks its centenary, shows four out of the top 10 best paid names have seen their salaries fall.

Gary Lineker is the BBC's top earning on-air talent for the fifth consecutive year and the only name to earn over £1 million annually, new figures show. The 61-year-old pundit and former footballer was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 in 2021/2022 for work including Match Of The Day and Sports Personality Of The Year a reduction of £10,000 on the previous year.

The only new addition to the top 10 is Greg James, whose salary has increased by £80,000.

The 36-year-old earns between £390,000 and £394,999 for work including the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Rewinder on Radio 4, Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Out Out! Live, with Sports Personality Of The Year also listed.

This year’s top 10 features fewer women that last year, dropping from four to three.

Lauren Laverne does not feature in this year’s top 10, with figures showing her salary has fallen by £15,000 to the bracket of £380,000-£384,999.

Top 10 highest BBC on-air salaries 2021/22.

Other notable increases on the overall list of top earning on-air talent, as shown in the annual report, include Naga Munchetty with a £110,000 increase and Amol Rajan with an increase of £85,000.

Victoria Derbyshire, meanwhile, has seen a £70,000 increase.

Graham Norton is also absent from the list after departing Radio 2 in December 2020 to start a show at Virgin Radio.

The BBC has seen a number of high-profile on-air departures over the last year, with Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, Andrew Marr and Dan Walker all leaving for rival broadcasters.

It comes after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced earlier this year that the BBC’s licence fee will be frozen under inflation for the next two years.