Oprah Dominates Top TV Earner List

Forbes has published a list of television’s highest earners. Twenty TV personalities make up the list, collectively earning $723 million from June 2006 to June 2007.

Oprah Winfrey topped the list with a massive $260 million during the 12 month period. Coming in second was Jerry Seinfeld with a respectable $60 million, thanks mainly to reruns of his sitcom “Seinfeld”.

Though TV’s top earners once hailed from sitcoms – Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and company pocketed $1 million an episode by the end of that show’s run – today the industry’s biggest earners come from reality television and even news divisions. Katie Couric is believed to have turned down a $20 million annual paycheck from NBC honchos anxious to have her remain in the co-anchor spot on the network’s incredibly profitable Today show morning chat-fest. She jumped ship anyway, and today pulls in a healthy $15 million annually anchoring CBS’ evening news. She is the highest paid network anchor, though morning show rivals Diane Saywer, Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira also make the list.

The full list is as follows:

1. Oprah Winfrey, $260 million
2. Jerry Seinfeld, $60 million
3. Simon Cowell, $45 million
4. David Letterman, $40 million
5. Donald Trump, $32 million
6. Jay Leno, $32 million
7. Dr. Phil McGraw, $30 million
8. “Judge” Judy Sheindlin, $30 million
9. George Lopez, $26 million
10. Kiefer Sutherland, $22 million
11. Regis Philbin, $21 million
12. Tyra Banks, $18 million
13. Rachael Ray, $16 million,
14. Katie Couric, $15 million
15. Ellen DeGeneres, $15 million
16. Ryan Seacrest, $14 million
17. Matt Lauer, $13 million
18. Barbara Walters, $12 million
19. Diane Sawyer, $12 million
20. Meredith Vieira, $10 million

Source: Forbes