Ever wonder who’s raking in the dough on the small screen?
The rankings may surprise you.
According to a report by TV Guide, “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is taking home between $25 and $30 million a year, topping broadcast network competitors Jay Leno and David Letterman, who have seen salary cuts in recent years. Ashton Kutcher remains top dog in primetime, securing $750,000 per episode of CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” though the leads in “Big Bang Theory” are nipping at the thesp’s heels with potential deals that could pay Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco up to a million bucks per seg.
TV Guide’s rankings, based on intel from talent reps, studio and network execs, are as follows:
DRAMA (per episode)
Mark Harmon (NCIS): $525,000 + points
Claire Danes (Homeland): $250,000
Michael Weatherly (NCIS): $250,000
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones): $150,000
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black): $50,000
COMEDY (per episode)
Ashton Kutcher (Two and a Half Men): $750,000
Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother): $225,000
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation): $200,000
Robin Williams (The Crazy Ones): $165,000
Max Greenfield (New Girl): $75,000
REALITY
Howard Stern (America’s Got Talent): $15 million per year
Keith Urban (American Idol): $5 million per year
Blake Shelton (The Voice): $4 million per cycle
RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race): $50,000 per episode
Reza Farahan (Shahs of Sunset): $18,000 per episode
LATE NIGHT (per year)
Jon Stewart (The Daily Show): $25-30 million
Jay Leno (The Tonight Show): $20 million
David Letterman (Late Night): $20 million
Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live): $10 million
Andy Cohen (Watch What Happens Live): $2 million
NEWS (per year)
Matt Lauer (NBC): $22-25 million
Rachel Maddow (MSNBC): $7 million
Megyn Kelly (Fox News Channel): $6 million
Scott Pelley (CBS): $5 million
Chris Cuomo (CNN): $2.5 million
DAYTIME/SYNDICATION (per year)
Judy Sheindlin (Judge Judy): $47 million
Katie Couric (Katie): $10 million
Michael Strahan (Live with Kelly and Michael): $4 million
Sharon Osbourne (The Talk): $1 million
Aisha Tyler (The Talk): $500,000
