Yesterday, we reported that BBC presenter John Humphrys had volunteered to take a salary cut in the wake of the gender pay-gap debate.
Well, now it has emerged that more leading male presenters have agreed to follow suit, with a fourth ‘in discussions’.
According to the BBC News website, the names who’ve agreed to take a pay cut, ‘either formally or in principle’, are Jeremy Vine, Huw Edwards and Nicky Campbell.
The website added that Jon Sopel is currently involved in talks with the corporation.
Of those, Vine currently picks up the biggest salary. The Radio 2 presenter, 52 – who also hosts Points Of View and Eggheads, and who appeared on Strictly in 2015 – earned between £700,000 and £749,999 in 2016/17.
He commented: “I think it needs to be sorted out, and I support my female colleagues who’ve rightly said they should be paid the same when they’re doing the same job.
“It’s just a no-brainer, so it wasn’t a problem for me to accept [a pay cut].”
Next in the pay hierarchy is newsreader Edwards, 56, who commanded a salary of between £550,000 and £599,999 during that year.
Radio 5 Live breakfast DJ and presenter of BBC Sunday show The Big Questions Nicky Campbell, also 56, earned between £400,000 and £449,999 in the same period.
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And the BBC’s North America Editor Jon Sopel, 58, picked up a salary in the region of £200,000 and £249,999.
Today host John Humphrys confirmed this week that he’s in talks with BBC bosses to have his pay cut for a third time since he started at the corporation in 1966.
That came after the leakage of off-air comments made by the presenter in the wake of China Editor Carrie Gracie’s resignation.
Carrie cited pay inequality with her male colleagues as her reason for quitting – last year, it was revealed that two-thirds of those who earn a salary of £150,000 or more at the BBC are male.
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In a recording, Humphrys was heard saying to Jon Sopel: “How much of your salary are you prepared to hand over to Carrie Gracie to keep her?”
It is not yet known how much the aforementioned presenters will have their salaries reduced by, but the BBC’s Media Editor Amal Rajan suggested that the cuts were inevitable.
He said: “Many of those now taking pay cuts secured generous deals years ago.
“That world has disappeared – and these presenters now accept that a chunk of their salaries will have to disappear with it.”
A BBC spokesperson told The Independent: “The BBC has agreed pay cuts with a number of leading BBC News presenters and others have agreed in principle.”