This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/6076584.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
BBC overpays stars, DJ Wogan says Wogan says BBC overpaying stars
(about 1 hour later)
The BBC is overpaying celebrities who would be happy to work for the corporation regardless of their salary, veteran presenter Terry Wogan has said. The BBC is overpaying stars who would work for the corporation regardless of salary, veteran presenter Terry Wogan has said in a book of essays about TV.
"Their excuse is that if they do not offer millions, the opposition will lure the talent away with honeyed words and equally large sums," he claimed. It felt this was necessary to avoid talent being lured away "with honeyed words and equally large sums," he said.
Wogan, reputed to earn £800,000 a year at Radio 2, also accused TV companies of "buying talent instead of ideas".Wogan, reputed to earn £800,000 a year at Radio 2, also accused TV companies of "buying talent instead of ideas".
Stars were being signed with no clear idea of what to do with them, he said. Meanwhile he dedicated his breakfast show on Monday to his late producer Paul Walters, who died on Saturday.
The DJ described him as a "a great friend" and "a great producer", and thanked listeners for "thousands" of emails of condolence.
"How wonderful that he touched so many of you," said Wogan.
He began the programme by playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Eva Cassidy, a singer championed by Walters, who had been ill for some time.
'Creative shots'
Extracts from the book on TV, Shooting Stars, were printed in the Sunday Telegraph.
In one essay, Wogan, 68, said stars were being signed by the BBC with no clear idea of what to do with them.
"You might say the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
As for those much-trumpeted seven-figure deals, I have the suspicion that the corporation is in some cases over-paying Terry Wogan
"The culture now in television is that the presenter calls the financial and, increasingly, the creative shots. It is comparable to what happened in Hollywood 15 or so years ago."
He went on: "Agents have become far more powerful, and through them the stars are able to dictate their own terms."
Without identifying any particular celebrities, Wogan described his employer as "often giving huge quantities of money to people who would prefer to work for the corporation anyway".
And he added: "We can all name stars who have been persuaded to cross over from BBC to ITV, and it has ended in tears."
There has been controversy about the salary of Jonathan RossThere has been controversy this year about the wages of top BBC personalities, following the leak of documents purporting to show salary levels within the corporation.
Radio 1 breakfast host Chris Moyles was said to be earning £630,000 a year, with Jonathan Ross on £540,000 for his weekly Radio 2 programme.
Ross was also reported to have signed an £18m three-year contract for work across the corporation.
But in July, the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, said that high salaries were required in order to secure the best deal for "absolutely key talent".
He told MPs that he would not apologise because a BBC without big names would not please the public.