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Stephen Nolan among BBC's best paid presenters again

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI education and arts correspondent
BBC Stephen Nolan filmed in a room with red brick and white walls. He has short grey hair and a black shirt. He is standing with folded arms BBC
Stephen Nolan was paid between £405,000 and £409,999 directly from the licence fee in 2024-25

Stephen Nolan is again among the BBC's best paid presenters, according to the corporation's just-published annual report.

He was paid between £405,000 and £409,999 directly from the licence fee in 2024-25.

That is similar to his salary from 2023-24 and includes pay for his presenting work on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio 5 Live and for Nolan Live on BBC TV.

Mr Nolan was the seventh highest paid on-air presenter in 2024-25, though some like Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball have since left the BBC.

BBC Northern Ireland's director Adam Smyth, meanwhile, was paid between £178,000 and £184,999 in 2024-25.

The BBC is required to publish a list of individuals, both on-air and off-air, who receive more than £178,000 from licence fee revenue in a year.

Mr Smyth's salary was below the £178,000 threshold for disclosure in the annual report in 2023-24.

PA Media Adam Smyth, Director for BBC Northern Ireland, wears black Ray Ban sunglasses. he has short greying hair and a beard. He wears a navy suit, blue shirt and navy tie. PA Media
BBC Northern Ireland's director Adam Smyth was paid between £178,000 and £184,999 in 2024-25

The BBC, though, does not have to disclose the salaries of stars who are paid through production companies for programmes made for the corporation.

So the 2024-25 pay figures do not include what Mr Nolan earns for other TV programmes made for the BBC by his independent production company.

The same arrangement applies to some other well-known presenters on the BBC.

For instance, neither Graham Norton nor Michael McIntyre appear on the BBC's list of top earners as their BBC TV programmes are made for the corporation by independent production companies.

A list of the BBC's 10 best-paid presenters with Gary Lineker at the top and Justin Webb at the bottom of the list, in descending order.

Other hit shows like MasterChef are also made by independent production companies so their presenters salaries are not disclosed in the annual report.

An inquiry ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay recently found that 45 allegations about Gregg Wallace's behaviour on MasterChef were upheld, for which he apologised.

Wallace's fellow MasterChef presenter John Torode has also said he is the subject of an allegation of using racist language, but said he had "no recollection" of any of it.

PA Media Gregg Wallace, a bald man wearing glasses, a white shirt, navy tie, light blue waistcoat and navy suit. PA Media
An inquiry recently found that 45 allegations about Gregg Wallace's behaviour on MasterChef were upheld

Who is the BBC's top earner?

As the pay disclosed in the BBC's annual report is for the 2024-25 financial year, Gary Lineker is still listed as the BBC's top earner on around £1,350,000 a year.

Mr Lineker left the BBC in May 2025.

Other on-air figures to earn more than Stephen Nolan from the licence fee in 2024-25 are Zoe Ball - who has since stopped presenting Radio 2's breakfast show - Alan Shearer, Nick Robinson, Fiona Bruce and Greg James.

Adam Smyth's predecessor as BBC Northern Ireland director, Peter Johnston, was paid between £215,000 and £219,999 in 2024-25.

Mr Johnston is now the corporation's director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews.

He recently carried out a review which found that a BBC documentary about Gaza breached editorial guidelines on accuracy by failing to disclose the narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

What else does the annual report reveal about the BBC in Northern Ireland?

The BBC's annual report also gives some detail about the corporation's performance in Northern Ireland.

Adults in Northern Ireland spent almost seven hours a week watching BBC TV or the iPlayer in 2024-25, higher than the viewing time by adults in England and Scotland.

On average, 64% of adults in Northern Ireland consumed BBC Northern Ireland content per week across BBC TV/iPlayer, BBC Radio and BBC Online.

That is the highest level of consumption of nations and regions content in the UK and also makes Northern Ireland the only UK nation up year-on-year.

But the BBC spent less in Northern Ireland than it collected from the licence fee in the country.

It received around £100m of licence fee income from Northern Ireland, but spent £97m on content made in or for Northern Ireland.