Ho Lee Fuk! Take a look at the salaries of our beloved Talk Show hosts

Fuck them all with a pitchfork.

Judge Judy doesn't get a salary, she owns her own show.

And make $47 million on a show that generates $230 million in advertising is cheap. The show is 100% her.

Shepard Smith gets THAT much? Out the fucker already!

Judge Judy is worth every penny she makes. Her show, or more specifically, she is the funniest person on TV today. I love the way she insults and humiliates people with abandon. she's funnier than Joan Rivers ever was.

Ridiculously overpaid.

Hang them from a lamp post.

Jon Stewart is such a fake liberal. He's just another 1 percenter asshole with wayyyy too much money. Does he actually do any charity or activism or does he just sit on his millions all day like all the other right wing Fox news piece of shits?

Except for Robin Roberts at GMA, none of the GMA or CBS Morning News hosts are included in the list.

By the way, the list is insane.

[quote]Ridiculously overpaid.

Some are, some aren't.

Depends how much money they generate and how many people they employ.

Ellen and Judge Judy are the only reason people watch those shows. They deserve everything they make.

The news anchors are replaceable. They WILL be replaced at some point. They always are.

That's what I thought, too R6.

I dont know how NBC justifies paying Matt Lauer that much when ABC is now ruling the ratings.

Fucking hell, Kelly Ripa? She's so fucking annoying! Matt Lauer? Ridiculous, and they are paying for his helicopter rides from the hamptons to the city. Pat Sajak from the wheel of fortune? What a fucking easy job! He doesn't even write any material!

At least Brian Williams goes out the the field and report...

Of all things to be upset about r11, why be upset about their salaries. They are making what they are worth and because entertainment isn't a lifetime guarantee they have to make what they can to sustain a lifetime. Kudos to everyone on that list.

R12 sounds like an agent. Or a frau. A fraugent.

r12 = Shepard Smith

I'm surprised by a few of the names on this list, but not Judge Judy. Jimmy Fallon makes much *less* than I expected, considering Conan O'Brien was making three times that amount during his brief stint on "Tonight." Shep Smith ... don't even get me started, but I definitely would not have expected him to be in the eight-figure club.

I don't know where Business Insider gets its figures, but that estimate of $15 for Miss Ryan Seacrest is waaaaaaaaaaay too low. She probably makes that from "Idol" alone! Considering his multiple radio contracts, his multi-level deal with E! (he produces at least a half-dozen of their shows), and his NYE hosting duties, his actual number is at least double $15 mil.

I'm not surprised in the least re: any of the syndicated talk show hosts. Those shows practically *mint* money. Ditto "Today" and "GMA": those are literally the two most profitable shows on television today. IIRC each generates a net *profit* of over $150 million a year ... and that's *after* they pay the hosts' huge salaries! The second most profitable ones are the three 11:35pm shows, hence the large salaries for Letterman, Fallon, Kimmel, and Conan. (And actually, I think their stat for Letterman is off: I specifically remember he re-upped during negotiations for his last contract to the $30M range. Also, Conan's show makes a fraction of what those on the major networks do, but it's still a "halo show" that raises the profile -- and commercial prices -- for the network as a whole.)

Finally, Judge Judy makes the most -- by far -- for the same reason Oprah used to: she personally owns a huge chunk of the syndication rights to her show, as opposed to working on a show *owned* by a syndication company.

TBS pay Conan O'Brien WTF?!

O'Brien is the least funniest person ever on television, and he cannot conduct an interview for shit.

Where is Craig Ferguson? He is the best of the late night hosts.

R17= Craig Ferguson.

I don't get why Seacrest got a big raise in 2012 when the ratings have been going down for years.

Fuck that ignorant pos O'Reilly too.

And Lauer's pay has NO justification at all

Bang Ding Ow!

O'Reilly pulls in the highest rating and and prior to Shep signing his latest contract, he was 2nd in terms of ratings. My work puts this channel on TV so I have no choice but to watch this shit.

It's a fairly common argument that if a show generates X in advertising revenue then the star deserves a fair chunk.

But how good would it be if shows and their stars were prepared to forego part of their ridiculous incomes to create a stronger social agenda - only companies who pay above the minimum wage and provide full health care can advertise. No sweatshop labor. No political donations. Full benefits for LGBT employees etc.

My brother used to work on the Ellen show. He told me that Judge Judy basically got Oprah's audience, that's why her show is so big now.

R18 is the stingy president of CBS.

Of all those, Jon Stewart, Robin Roberts and Kelly Ripa piss me off the most.

Hoda Kotb does a better job than all of them. Mrs. Consuelos is insufferable - as is her brood. Roberts unwatchable. Stewart a smarmy hypocrite.

How much was Regis pulling in at the end of his run?

Wasn't Ho Lee Fuk an Asian porn star?

r26

You are thinking of Hung Lo.

R12, most people don't make $12 million in a LIFETIME.

These clowns certainly don't deserve it in a YEAR.

Is Matt Lauer even popular with the audience anymore? How do they justify his salary?

"Matt Lauer: $22 million to $25 million"

Not worth it.

It's sad to see how poor people are in America

r28

Yes they do, because without them the revenue would be nothing.