BBC director-general defends Gary Lineker's 拢1.3m pay packet
BBC officials are now being questioned on how much they pay their top stars - and in particular, Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
Lord Young points out the former England star is on 拢1.3m a year, but says: "However good he is, he isn't the asset... the asset is Match of the Day."
He says the BBC "could sell MOTD anywhere" and that it could be run with "some really good presenters" who would do it "for a lower cost".
Some people "think they're indispensable", Lord Young says, but the BBC should have a "long hard look" at "paying such extraordinary" salaries to its stars.
Tim Davie says he believes the BBC has done a good job at putting pressure on the pay of its senior talent, but he disagrees with the suggestion that "anyone can do this".
He points out Lineker has played for England and has plenty of experience, so is "of immense value" to the BBC.
The market is "pretty hot for talent who carry an audience" so it is "worth investing in at a very limited level", he says.
Mr Davie says there are 24,000 individuals who come on air and contribute, and only 68 are paid more than 拢178,000.
He says that if all of them were taken down to 拢150,000, it would save the BBC 拢6-7m in its budget of 拢3.7bn.
Therefore in terms of "hard savings", he says this is "not a hugely material chunk of money in terms of the overall BBC budget".