BBC to reveal total performer pay

The BBC is to reveal the total amount paid to its performers who broadcast on radio and television.

This is thought to be almost £230m a year and, of that figure, £70m goes to the top earners.

The BBC will not disclose individual salaries, saying they are commercially confidential, despite continued pressure from MPs.

However, the corporation will give new details of the pay and expenses given to BBC executives.

Politicians of all parties have urged the corporation to reveal what it pays its stars, and cut what it pays its managers.

Many performers have taken a pay cut, top executives’ pay has been published and frozen, and bonuses have been withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the BBC has also agreed to reveal licence fee-funded payments to some of its leading sports presenters to a House of Commons spending watchdog but not to the public.

Jeremy Peat, a BBC trustee, said he would provide a breakdown of the costs for major events in confidence to the Public Accounts Committee.

He made the offer after committee chairman Edward Leigh accused the corporation of being "obsessed" with celebrities and suggested the figures should be made public.

Talent deals

A fifth of the budget for one such event went on presenters, Mr Leigh said, but its identity was kept secret to prevent anyone knowing what an individual star might have earned.

He said that the three events "in question" were Wimbledon, Euro 2008 and the Olympics.

A National Audit Office (NAO) investigation found last month that the broadcaster was failing to show its coverage of major sporting and music events was providing value for money.

While the NAO had been given the breakdown of the proportion spent on presenters for individual events, it was not allowed to make that public, Mr Leigh said.

Mr Peat said the BBC had to protect the confidentiality of pay deals with its "top talent".

He also said that revealing the split between talent and other staff for each event would make it "possible for people, on the basis of information which is available or could be made available, to get a very good approximation of the cost of some individual talent for some of these events".</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Jackson medic denies manslaughter

Michael Jackson’s former doctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles, it has been confirmed.

Dr Conrad Murray is expected to deny the charges in court later. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Photographers and news cameras have begun to gather at the Los Angeles International Airport Courthouse in anticipation of his appearance.

Jackson died at his home last June at the age of 50.

His death was ruled as homicide, mainly caused by the anaesthetic Propofol.

A cocktail of drugs – including sedatives Midazolam and Diazepam, the painkiller Lidocaine and the stimulant Ephedrine – were also detected in his body, a coroner confirmed.

The prosecutors allege that Dr Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson".

Members of Michael Jackson’s family have gone to the court where Dr Murray is expected to arrive shortly.

Legal fight

Dr Murray had been hired to be Jackson’s personal physician last spring as the singer prepared for his comeback concerts in London.

"We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell"

Ed Chernoff
Lawyer for Dr Conrad Murray

Profile: Dr Conrad Murray

He told police he had been giving Jackson Propofol as part of his treatment for insomnia, according to an affidavit made public in August.

But he has always maintained he did not prescribe nor administer anything that should have killed the singer.

After a week of speculation over the manslaughter charge, Dr Murray had been expected to surrender to authorities last Friday.

But a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney said the office had decided to delay action until Monday.

The statement came after several days of negotiations, where Dr Murray’s lawyers tried to arrange for him to surrender to prosecutors in an attempt to avoid him being handcuffed and arrested.

Speaking before the charges were filed, the physician’s defence lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said the doctor was prepared for the legal battle ahead.

"We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell," he said.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.