Female stars call on BBC to 'act now' to close gender pay gap

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Some of the BBC's most high-profile stars have called on the corporation to "act now" to address a gender pay gap that sees it pay its top male star five times more than its best-paid female presenter.

Reaching 95 percent of British adults every week and a global audience of 372 million, the BBC may be a national treasure in the UK but it faces intense scrutiny over spending as its funding comes from a fee levied on TV viewers.

BBC Annual Report 2017 Photo

Its list of on-air employees earning at least 150,000 pounds (195,555 US dollars) numbered 96 people, two-thirds of them men, most earning more than women doing similar work.

"You have said that you will 'sort' the gender pay gap by 2020, but the BBC has known about the pay disparity for years," more than 40 women wrote to Director General Tony Hall.

BBC's highest-paid male presenter Chris Evans earns 2,250,000 pounds a year. /VCG Photo

"We all want to go on the record to call upon you to act now," they said.

The BBC had said it had not wanted to disclose salary information as this could make it easier for rival broadcasters to poach talent, but last week caved in to the government's demand to publish the salaries of its highest earners.

(Source: Reuters)

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