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

Comments

[c payne]

Wow!! And just think all the time they have off. Thank you commercials.