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TV Guide Names TV Stars' Salaries
Is it possible that Maury Povich -- the guy whose daytime talk show has mostly devolved into telling women who fathered their babies on air -- makes more than award-winning 60 minutes journalist Lesley Stahl?
Does Judge Judy take home three times more cash than the father of modern TV game shows, Bob Barker? And is the oddball guy with the beard on CSI really one of the highest-paid actors on television?
If you believe the salary figures quotes in a recent TV Guide they are. I'm never sure exactly where these numbers are coming from -- agents always quote high to make their clients look successful and networks always quote low to keep other stars from asking for more, and every quote is off the record.
Still, it's fun to look at the numbers and play compare and contrast. See where your fave star lands in the mix of compensation.
NETWORK PRIME TIME (all salaries are per episode)
William Petersen (CSI): $500,000
Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men): $350,000
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU): $350,000
Chris Meloni (Law & Order: SVU): $350,000
Hugh Laurie (House): $300,000
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (New Adventures of Old Christine): $225,000
Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy): $200,000
Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives): $200,000
Jeff Foxworthy (Are You Smarter Than…): $150,000
T.R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy): $125,000
Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy): $125,000
Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters): $100,000
CABLE (all salaries are per episode)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer): $250,000
Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck): $125,000
Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck): $125,000
Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck): $90,000
James Roday (Psych): $60,000
DAYTIME
Judge Judy (per year): $30 million
Bob Barker (per year): $10 million
Maury Povich (per year plus profit participation): $7 million
Ellen DeGeneres (per year): $5 million
Jerry Springer (per year): $3 million - 4 million
Tyra Banks (per year): $3.5 million
NEWS ANCHORS (all salaries are per year)
Katie Couric (CBS Evening News anchor): $15 million
Matt Lauer (NBC Today co-anchor): $12 million
Meredith Vieira (NBC Today co-anchor): $10 million
Keith Olbermann (MSNBC anchor): $4 million
Harry Smith (CBS The Early Show co-anchor): $3 million
Ernie Anastos (New York City local news anchor): $2 million
Lesley Stahl (CBS 60 Minutes correspondent): $1.8 million
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The best TV shows, the worst shows, TV news, media issues and debates ... it's all here at the Feed, a blog on TV, media and modern life by Tampa Bay Times TV/media critic Eric Deggans. Possibly the most critical guy at the Times, he has served as music, media and TV critic at various times over 10 years.
E-mail Eric Deggans:
deggans@tampabay.com
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