BBC Executives Pocket Six-Figure Pay Rises While Rank-and-File Staff Get 1.5%

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BBC bosses have been given six-figure pay rises while rank-and-file staff have been offered just a 1.5% increase. The Mail has the story:

The largesse is the latest sign of runaway pay at the top of the Beeb, where a record 130 executives now earn more than £178,000 a year – among them 11 HR directors on average salaries of more than £220,000.

It comes as Romesh Ranganathan fronted a star-studded advert to justify the licence fee amid growing uncertainty over whether the BBC’s current model, including the £180 charge, can survive.

Ministers may scrap it when the Royal Charter comes up for renewal in December, with a household levy, a subscription model or advertising-based funding being considered.

Overall, 61 executives saw their pay rise by an inflation-busting five figures this year.

The BBC must disclose the pay of anyone earning more than £178,000 a year in its annual report, with salaries published in bands of £5,000.

Executives earning above the threshold took home a collective £31 million last year – compared to £15.4 million in 2022/23.

The rises were handed out even as licence fee numbers suffered their biggest annual drop since the pandemic, with 539,000 people stopping payments last year, leaving just 23.3 million households funding the corporation – the lowest since 1999. …

BBC’s Chief Content Officer Kate Phillips’s pay has gone from £314,999 to a potential £459,999 – making her the biggest winner
Rhuanedd Richards, whose title has been swapped from ‘Nations Director’ for ‘Interim Director’, saw the second-biggest pay rise, with her salary jumping from £194,999 to £279,999
Director of News John McAndrew has had a pay rise to £289,999, after his role changed from Director, News Programmes
Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski is taking home an extra £60,000, taking his salary to £294,999 – despite his job title remaining the same

Meanwhile, the number of HR directors earning over the £178,000 threshold has more than tripled in three years, rising from three in 2022/23 to 11.

But licence fee payers had to make do with average annual pay rises of just 4.1%, while rank-and-file BBC staff were offered just 1.5% last year.

Worth reading in full.

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22 Comments
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stillonlplates
stillonlplates
1 month ago

Given the BBC’s current financial problems, it’s a case of ‘grab it while you can’.
Of course, these folk at the top are those who’ve caused the current mess, so they obviously deserve bumper pay rises.

Myra
Myra
1 month ago

Who has signed off these salary increases?

stillonlplates
stillonlplates
1 month ago
Reply to  Myra

The recipients?

RTSC
RTSC
1 month ago

Only a public sector / tax funded organisation would give massive pay-increases to Executives overseeing a FAILING “service.”

The solution is to strip it of the tax funding.

Curio
Curio
1 month ago

Astonishing! Whiter than a bunch of white lilies. Diversity for thee but not for me.

Matt Dalby
Matt Dalby
1 month ago

Presumably the technology now exists that means people could get a box the attach to their TV that records how many hours of BBC content they watch per month and they’re then billed accordingly, either the same amount per hour regardless of when they watch the BBC or different amounts for prime time TV compared with during the middle of the day or late at night.

The BBC could then carry adverts if it wanted extra revenue and other channels could decide if they also wanted to use pay per view funding in addition to or instead of carrying adverts.

Obviously there would be concerns that information about who’s watching what would be kept on record but provided channels such as GB News and Talk TV that are probably viewed with suspicion by the establishment didn’t use pay per view information about what individuals watch being stored shouldn’t be a problem.

Obviously it’s a very sad reflection on the state of the country but given how popular non-crime hate incidents were with the police and the way employers police their staff’s social media posts I completely understand why some people wouldn’t want it known that they watched “right wing” channels… Read more »

thechap
thechap
1 month ago
Reply to  Matt Dalby

If a streaming company records what I’m streaming from them and for how long, that’s fair enough. But to have a system – a box attached to my tv – which records my viewing habits, is not something I would like in my home.

Jack the dog
Jack the dog
1 month ago

But of course they do, for the BBC the feudal system is alive and well.

stillonlplates
stillonlplates
1 month ago
Reply to  Jack the dog

Droit de seigneur, in the case of much of their ‘talent’ (like Savile and that Aussie guy who splashed paint around).

LadbrokeGrove
LadbrokeGrove
1 month ago

£295k as director of sport? Does the BBC still cover sport?

huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
1 month ago
Reply to  LadbrokeGrove

Ladeeees only.

happycake78
happycake78
1 month ago

Hopefully this will inspire more people to cancel their TV licence.

stillonlplates
stillonlplates
1 month ago
Reply to  happycake78

I’m tempted to buy one again, just so I can cancel and ask for a refund.

Hound of Heaven
Hound of Heaven
1 month ago

The truly awful thing is that these conceited, ‘socially concerned’ parasites actually believe that they are worth it. Time to cancel the direct debit.

soundofreason
soundofreason
1 month ago

No, no! Those six figure pay rises are just 1.5%.

EppingBlogger
EppingBlogger
1 month ago
Reply to  soundofreason

Rachel did the maths.

Gezza England
Gezza England
1 month ago
Reply to  EppingBlogger

Helped by Diane Abbott.

zebedee
zebedee
1 month ago

Sounds like they could save money by getting rid of 10 HR directors

soundofreason
soundofreason
1 month ago
Reply to  zebedee

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Or. Who will be HR director for the HR directors?

disgruntled246
disgruntled246
1 month ago
Reply to  zebedee

I always thought the point of being HR Director was that there was only one Director. But I suppose I’ve always worked in the private sector where people actually had to earn their money.
What next, Vice President of Paper Clips?

stillonlplates
stillonlplates
1 month ago
Reply to  disgruntled246

Keeper of the Director’s Stool?

Gezza England
Gezza England
1 month ago
Reply to  zebedee

I see your 10 and raise it to 11 by employing a Personnel Manager.

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