Senior BBC executives received six-figure pay increases while ordinary staff were offered rises of just 1.5 per cent, according to findings by The Mail on Sunday.
The figures add to mounting scrutiny over executive pay at the corporation, where a record 130 bosses now earn more than £178,000 a year. That group includes 11 HR directors, whose average salaries are reported to exceed £220,000.
The revelations come as comedian Romesh Ranganathan appeared in a high-profile advert promoting the value of the BBC licence fee, at a time when questions are intensifying over the future of the broadcaster’s funding model and the current £180 charge.
Ministers are weighing potential alternatives ahead of the BBC’s Royal Charter renewal in December, with options understood to include replacing the licence fee with a household levy, shifting to a subscription system or introducing advertising-based funding.
In total, 61 BBC executives received five-figure pay rises this year, increases well above the rate of inflation.
Under transparency rules, the BBC is required to publish the salaries of staff earning more than £178,000 in its annual report, with remuneration listed in £5,000 bands.
Executives above that threshold collectively earned £31 million last year, a sharp rise from £15.4 million in 2022/23.
The pay increases were awarded as the number of licence fee payers fell at the steepest annual rate since the pandemic. Some 539,000 people stopped paying last year, leaving 23.3 million households funding the BBC — the lowest total since 1999.
BBC’s chief content officer Kate Phillips’s pay has gone from £314,999 to a potential £459,999 – making her the biggest winner
Rhuanedd Richards, whose title has been swapped from ‘Nations Director’ for ‘Interim Director, saw the second-biggest pay rise, with her salary jumping from £194,999 to £279,999
Director of news John McAndrew has had a pay rise to £289,999, after his role changed from Director, News Programmes
Director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski is taking home an extra £60,000, taking his salary to £294,999 – despite his job title remaining the same
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The biggest winner was chief content officer Kate Phillips, whose pay packet swelled from £314,999 to a potential £459,999.
Rhuanedd Richards saw the second-biggest rise, with her salary jumping from £194,999 to £279,999, after swapping her old title of ‘Nations Director’ for ‘Interim Director, Nations’.
John McAndrew, director of news, saw his pay rise £60,000 to £289,999, after his role changed from Director, News Programmes.
Alex Kay-Jelski, director of sport, also received an extra £60,000, taking his salary to £294,999 – despite his job title remaining the same.
Storm Fagan rounded out the top five, with an extra £55,000 taking her pay to £409,999, after her role expanded from chief product officer to chief technology and product officer.
Deborah Turness and Tim Davie, who both quit in November following allegations that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump, received pay rises before their resignations.
Ms Turness’s salary rose by £15,000 to up to £449,999 in 2025/26, while Mr Davie’s increased by the same amount to up to £559,999.
Director-general Matt Brittin has insisted it is ‘right’ the BBC offers competitive pay to attract talent – but said he would examine the number of senior managers.
Meanwhile, the number of HR directors earning over the £178,000 threshold has more than tripled in three years, rising from three in 2022/23 to 11.
But licence fee payers had to make do with average annual pay rises of just 4.1 per cent, while rank-and-file BBC staff were offered just 1.5 per cent last year.
The corporation also handed out 292 redundancy payments worth more than £100,000 last year, at a combined cost of £37.1 million.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The rises last year reflected promotions to more senior roles and increased responsibilities, against the backdrop of a fiercely competitive market.’
And it’s the Fast Night of the Proms
It’s famed for its pomp and circumstance, but concert-goers may have to make do with the Fast Night of the Proms.
Guests at this year’s BBC festival at the Royal Albert Hall in London say there has been a marked drop in the quality of food on offer in the corporation’s two hospitality boxes.
Revellers in the 12-seat boxes usually get to tuck into a selection of hors d’oeuvres provided by the hall’s in-house catering company.
But this year they have had to make do with pub snacks.
One guest, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I did notice they had pared back. We had crisps, some biscuit-type things and a bowl of peanuts.’
Another said they didn’t even get crisps and were told that Sam Jackson, controller of BBC Radio 3 and the Proms, had axed hors d’oeuvres in order to save £2,000 a year.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘Any hospitality provided is proportionate, complies with BBC policies and is incurred only where there is a clear and legitimate business purpose.’
