Paxman gets £1m a year

Jeremy Paxman has emerged as one of the BBC's highest-paid stars, with an annual salary of almost £1million.

The notoriously brusque Newsnight presenter earns £240,000 for asking the questions on BBC2's University Challenge - the equivalent of £7,741 a show, it emerged yesterday.

That is on top of his Newsnight salary - believed to be around £700,000 - bringing his annual BBC pay package to just under the million mark.

The huge sum dwarfs the salaries of the corporation's other high-profile journalists including broadcasters such as Fiona Bruce, Huw Edwards and Natasha Kaplinsky.

Paxman, 55, is the latest BBC star to have salary details leaked to the press and will doubtless be furious at the figures being made public.

Other victims include a roster of big name DJs on Radio 1 and Radio 2, among them Sir Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Chris Evans, and EastEnders stars Barbara Windsor and Steve McFadden.

The BBC has launched an urgent investigation to find the mole amid fears of an outbreak of unrest among stars who might now believe they are paid too little.

One agent, who represents a number of well-known personalities, said she had been inundated with calls from irate clients wanting their deals renegotiated in light of the revelations. The news about Paxman's wages means he is not only the BBC's highest-paid news presenter but rivals entertainment stars such as Graham Norton and Channel 4's Richard and Judy near top of the television salary league.

The best-paid presenter in broadcasting is believed to be the chat show host Paul O'Grady, who is paid £5million a year after defecting from ITV to Channel 4.

Details of the Radio 2 presenters' salaries were leaked yesterday and revealed that breakfast show host Sir Terry Wogan is the highest-paid DJ with an annual salary of £800,000. However Jonathan Ross gets the most per hour - earning £56.62 a minute for his three-hour Saturday show, or £530,000 a year.