Bbc Salaries

[sp1814]

Seeing as we have no choice but to pay the tv licence, do you think it's fair that highly paid BBC stars and management should have to declare how much they earn?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/11/salaries-of-top-bbc-stars-could-be-made-public-under-government-plans

Or is this commercially sensitive data which should remain private?

[Old_Geezer]

I think it fair enough. We are paying the bills, we ought to know if that money is being misspent by paying out excessively to those in the "celeb" group. And to the management too, for that matter.

[Bazile]

as Old_Geezer says

[jno]

commercially sensitive, I would have thought; it gives ammunition to the likes of Sky and ITV when they want to lure someone away.

As for us, how are we supposed to know if Graham Norton's pay is "excessive"? People are just going to be outraged because he earns more than they do.

[bhg481]

Where do you draw the line? What is highly paid? Since you question BBC employees because their pay comes from the public purse, what about all civil servants, local government employees etc.

[Bazile]

The arguement that's always trotted out, is if the BBC don't pay large salaries then the staff concerned will walk .

Yeah right, there are lots of media organizations out there having great difficulty filling positions .

They know that they are unto a good thing , with the BBC

[Old_Geezer]

"Since you question BBC employees because their pay comes from the public purse, what about all civil servants, local government employees etc."

Yes; above a certain agreed level yes. Same argument. Have folk never been amazed when something gets into the press about what your council has paid someone ? Umpteen times what you get for doing you responsible job well. Some salaries/fees are so large one is almost obliged to think must be nepotism between friends in the favoured group, but that can't be right, can it ? Perish the thought.

As for threats of walking, if someone thinks they are worth more than they actually are, then let them walk. That'd bring salaries down eventually, and the companies they walk from will still thrive but with lower costs.

As for what is too much. Folk will have different opinions, and differentials are not unreasonable so long as they are not excessive, and are justifiable. Surely any debate will be able to come up with a compromise on the maximum between thee highest paid by the company and the lowest ?

[Old_Geezer]

I see as I press the submit button the "the" magically changes to "thee" just to torment.

[THECORBYLOON]

No-one HAS to pay for a tv licence, it is a choice to own a tv receive live programmes. Advertising or subscription pays for most other tv channels and the money for advertising comes from us every time we buy something so why are folk not wanting to see the salaries of the stars from ITV or Sky?

[Old_Geezer]

Love to, but that would prove more difficult to achieve. It being an indirect payment via advertising it'd be difficult to justify rights to the information.

[THECORBYLOON]

How much do folk spend on petrol and diesel each year, are there many folk demanding to know how much BP is paying named individuals?

[Old_Geezer]

Same problem is a different form. You don't directly pay to run the company, it's not funded by a tax, you buy the product as required. So it's difficult to justify: and if gets more difficult the more extreme the situation asked about next. One needs to keep a sense of proportion.

Anyway I'm more concerned about the larger slice of the cake, the tax the government mugs the drivers for, because it can, and how it wastes it.

[youngmafbog]

Saying no one HAS to pay the licence is an absolute nonsense. It is a tax simple as that.

Should salaries be published, yes they should.

Are they commercially sensitive, no. I would bet my bottom dollar that all the 'head hunters' know the salary pretty much anyway. And those they dont know they would not be interested in.

Ideally the BBC, along with its tax, should be abolished anyway.

[atalanta]

I want to know. I especially want to know how much more the men "earn" than the women.