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Former Match of the Day host Des Lynam has claimed that it’s exhausting for the BBC to “justify” paying Gary Lineker his excessive wage for his presenting position – besides in strict monetary phrases.
Final month, it was confirmed that Lineker topped the BBC’s rating of highest paid on-air expertise for the seventh consecutive yr, having been paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 for the 2023/24 interval.
The previous England footballer was the one presenter on the record to earn greater than £1m. Nevertheless, the yearly printed rating solely discloses the salaries of these paid immediately via the BBC; lots of the broadcaster’s greatest and most costly stars are paid as a substitute via manufacturing firms (together with the BBC’s industrial division, BBC Studios), which aren’t obliged to launch their wage information.
“I don’t suppose you may justify it when it comes to what a nurse or firemen does, however it’s the market – that’s what the BBC really feel they must pay to get his providers,” Lynam, who hosted Match of the Day from 1988 till 1999, advised Radio Instances.
“You’ll be able to’t say that anyone saying just a few phrases right into a tv display screen is price greater than somebody who saves lives, however cash dictates. He’s a really fortunate chap. He’s had two nice careers and the second is helped alongside by the very fact he had the primary one,” he added.
Match of the Day airs each Saturday through the soccer season, and includes highlights of the Premier League fixtures, alongside interviews and evaluation. A sister programme, Match of the Day 2, airs on Sundays.
Elsewhere within the interview, Lynam praised Lineker’s presenting abilities, saying that his successor improved “very quickly” after initially being reluctant to voice opinions on air.
“He wasn’t comfy [as a pundit] at the start,” stated Lynam.
“He’s been extremely essential of the England staff within the Euros, however when he first got here on he wouldn’t criticise anyone. He’s not everybody’s cup of tea however for my cash I feel he does a first-class job.”
Lynam stop his position on the BBC in 1999, and moved to ITV in a deal that introduced “a lot much less work and extraordinary cash”, he stated.
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Nevertheless, Lynam expressed remorse at leaving his put up on the Beeb, remarking: “I missed doing Match of the Day. It belongs there on the BBC. In the event that they ever eliminate it, or can’t afford it, they’re completed.”
