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Piers Morgan says TV stars earn their pay

Piers Morgan
  • Posted at 11:10am
  • 06 October 2009
  • by PaulJones-RT
  • 7 comments

In the latest edition of Radio Times magazine, Piers Morgan gives his two pennyworth in the debate over television stars' wages.

"The furore over the amount TV presenters get paid seems to me to be way out of proportion, and based largely on envy and cynicism, not logic," said the former tabloid editor, who now presents shows including Piers Morgan On…, in which he visits some of the most glamorous locations in the world, and celebrity biography show Piers Morgan's Life Stories.

"In America, they celebrate similar success. People there look at big stars earning big money and think, 'I want to be that guy,' not 'I want to let his tyres down', as we tend to do in Britain."

Quoting a recent survey, he said, "Just six per cent of the British public think I'm worth my TV wages." But according to Morgan it's no longer just presenters such as himself and Jonathan Ross who are being put under the microscope. "Seventy per cent of the British public think broadcaster Michael Palin is overpaid, too[…] How ridiculous is that? Whatever the BBC pays him is comfortably exceeded by the profits they make from worldwide sales of his shows. So this guy actually makes money for the taxpayer."

"For commercial networks like ITV, the maths is even easier," says Morgan. "If your shows do well, then the network makes more money from advertising[…] Simon Cowell created, produces and stars in the two most popular and cash-generating shows on TV - The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. Yet some think he should now take a pay cut because of the recession. Why?

"Those who make money for networks through their talent shouldn't be the ones pilloried. It's market force, and the public don't suffer for it.

"You might hate me for earning what I earn, but it doesn't come from your wallet, so relax."

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Comments

  • Posted on 09 October 2009
  • at 4:46pm
  • by joe

Yes we do pay. We pay in terms of the low cultural and moral values held up to us as a reflection of what is 'normal'. We pay when these people are used as marketing tools to brainwash us into acquiring worthless commodities. We pay when a society thinks that shameless and talentless behaviour should be financially rewarded.

  • Posted on 09 October 2009
  • at 4:33pm
  • by Nigel

Where does Piers think that the money for his earnings comes from? He is paid by broadcasters who get their money from advertisers who get their money from our wallets.

  • Posted on 08 October 2009
  • at 9:46am
  • by Tom Clarke

He's right, though. If they're personally making vast amounts of money for their company by doing what they do, they deserve to be paid at the same scale. Same as pro footballers. So what Piers is saying is that if you think someone is overpaid, stop using their stuff or buying from their sponsors.

Seems simple enough.

  • Posted on 07 October 2009
  • at 9:58pm
  • by mikey

I don't think Piers Morgan deserves his TV wages - not because I'm jealous of him or his money, but because he is an odious, puffed-up, little man who I wouldn't watch if the TV station was paying ME!

  • Posted on 06 October 2009
  • at 6:35pm
  • by TommyUdo

Well he WOULD say that, wouldn''t he?

  • Posted on 06 October 2009
  • at 5:32pm
  • by karen

I just want to remind Piers that anyone that works earns money in one way or another for the tax payer.

  • Posted on 06 October 2009
  • at 12:10pm
  • by MazY

I think Piers is suffering from his usual case of self-importance again. I don't think that people go around giving Piers or his salary any thought at all. I gather people answered a specific question about his salary, as it was put to them in a survey, that is all. Knowing that egomaniac, he probably commissioned the survey in the first place, just to see his own name. Move along now. Nothing to see here.

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