Zoe Ball - second on the BBC pay list, earning £954,999 - became the latest star to reveal a career update by stepping down as host of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
Change is underway at the top of the BBC's rich list, with a host of big name departures leading to new faces at the top of the salary rankings.
The announcement came just a week after it emerged the BBC's highest paid star, Gary Lineker, was leaving Match of the Day - despite reportedly offering to take a £350,000 pay cut from his £1.35million salary. Huw Edwards is another of the BBC's top earners for 2024, but he will not be returning to our TV screens after being convicted for possessing indecent images of children
James is followed on the BBC's talent pay figures for 2024 by Question Time and BBC News presenter Fiona Bruce and Radio 5 Live presenter Stephen Nolan who are in joint fifth position and earn up to £409,999 apiece. The salary figures also show that most of the presenters listed had posted pay rises between 2023 and 2024, with BBC News presenter Reeta Chakrabarti getting a huge increase in the region of £55,000 to up to £274,999.
So when £950,000-a-year Zoe - currently their best paid radio star - floated that she was thinking of moving on, they made minimal efforts to persuade her to stay. Read MoreBREAKING NEWS Fans divided over Zoe Ball's BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show replacement Currently Mills, 51, who has hosted a number of different slots on the network and regularly stood in for his pal this year while she was off on compassionate leave, earns a comparably modest £315,000 each year.
Despite the high pay for its biggest names, the corporation revealed last month plans to cut a number of shows as part of a savings drive. Read More BBC axes flagship interview show after 25 years as it slashes 155 jobs to cut spending The move also means UK radio audiences, including those on Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live, will now get overnight news bulletins from the BBC World Service, while radio station Asian Network will also lose its own 'bespoke' news service.
In a letter to staff in October, chief executive of BBC News and Current Affairs, Deborah Turness, said it was a 'tough day' and there had been 'difficult decisions', adding it had to 'operate within our budgets'.Ms Turness revealed proposals to deliver a saving of £24 million in the news division adding this was 'four per cent of our current budget'.
It comes after the BBC director-general Tim Davie announced in March this year the requirement to find a further £200 million in savings. The former footballer is not close to his new boss Alex Kay-Jelski, who appeared determined to replace him after starting his Head of Sport job in April.
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The changing BBC rich list: How host of new faces are set to top the cost-cutting Beeb's highest...Zoe Ball - second on the BBC pay list, earning £954,999 - became the latest star to reveal a career update by stepping down as host of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
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