Graham Norton received pay of £3.235 million (€3.747 million) for presenting his popular Friday night BBC chat show in 2019, according to newly-filed accounts.
The £3.235 million that Norton received from production company So Television Ltd came in addition to the £725,000 that the BBC paid the popular entertainer in 2019/2020 for presenting his BBC Radio 2 show. This resulted in a combined pay of £3.96 million.
In 2019, ITV-owned So Television Ltd generated pretax profit of £2.3 million as revenue declined by 9 per cent from £15.89 million to £14.43 million.
The company generates the bulk of its revenue from the Graham Norton Show broadcast on BBC and channels around the world.
The £3.23 million pay to Norton in 2019 – comprised of presenter fees, production fees and royalties – marked an increase of £262,755 on the £2.97 million paid to Norton by So Television in 2018.
The directors’ report accompanying the company’s accounts states that the Graham Norton Show “continued to perform very well in sales and ratings, both in the UK and internationally”.
Virgin Radio
Last December, Norton left BBC Radio 2 after 10 years and now presents Saturday and Sunday morning shows on Virgin Radio UK.
In an interview earlier this year, Norton hit out at the publication of a list of top BBC earners. He said: “The list is rubbish. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t tell you what people are earning because of how people are paid, which is why so many radio people are on that list.”
Norton established So Television Ltd with Graham Stuart in 2000.
