Recession sparks 25% pay cuts for GMTV stars

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 06:47 EDT, 30 June 2009

The recession continues to bite, even for celebrity TV presenters. Stars at GMTV, including Kate Garraway and Lorraine Kelly are facing pay cuts of up to 25%.

Pay cut: GMTV presenters Emma Crosby and Kate Garraway

The breakfast broadcaster is following the BBC's example and taking an axe to the salaries of its top earners.

Like all commercial broadcasters, GMTV is trying to cope with a dramatic downturn in advertising caused by the recession.

Presenters are also expected to have their holiday entitlement drastically cut, in some cases by 50%.

Miss Kelly is believed to be the show's highest earner on around £350,000 a year. She presents her own show, GMTV with Lorraine, directly after the main programme.

Kate Garraway is understood to be on £280,000 a year while newcomer Emma Crosby gets around £120,000. Garraway, whose contract is due to be renewed in August, could face a £70,000 pay reduction.

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Insiders say that Andrew Castle - who was earning around £240,000 - has signed a new deal which has seen him take a 20% cut, some £48,000. Miss Crosby is facing negotiations at the end of the year when her deal comes up for renewal.

An insider on the show said: 'When they are going in for contract negotiations, presenters are being knocked down by about 25%. They are also having to work more weeks for their money as well.

'They used to have much longer holidays. Some of them used to have something like 12 weeks off. I think now they are going down to six or seven.'

GMTV is 75%-owned by ITV while Disney controls the remainder. A spokesman said: 'We do not discuss presenters' contracts. We are very happy with our team of presenters.'

Presenters Kate Garraway and John Stapleton

In March, ITV announced the biggest wave of cutbacks in its history after announcing its worst-ever results. A collapse in the advertising market saw operating profits at the broadcaster plummet by 41% to £167m last year. When the fall of the value of its assets is included, ITV posted pre-tax losses of £2.73bn. It also announced another 600 job losses.

The BBC is also under pressure after the publication of the salaries of its management. Presenters salaries have not been disclosed but they have been told to expect pay cuts of up to 40%.

GMTV presenter Emma Crosby

Jonathan Ross, Jeremy Clarkson and Graham Norton are among those facing big reductions. Any freelance stars earning more than £100,000 a year at the licence fee-funded broadcaster face a pay cut of 25%. There is speculation that when Ross's his deal comes up for renewal he would lose around £2.4m a year.

The size of BBC salaries was highlighted in May after Carrie Gracie, a newsreader on BBC News 24, admitted while interviewing a politican in May that she earned £92,000 a year.