Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest Top 5 – Forbes Highest Paid TV Hosts

Another fun earnings list from Forbes Magazine. Today we have the top earning TV hosts. Simon Cowell comes in 2nd, with No. 4, Ryan Seacrest gaining on his ex-coworker (Ryan’s earnings are up 20% this year).

Oprah, in 1st place, earns over 3 times more than Simon does. Check out the deets below. Read more at Forbes Magazine.

1. Oprah Winfrey – 290 milllion
2. Simon Cowell – 90 million
3. Dr. Phil McGraw – 80 million
4. Ryan Seacrest – 61 million
5. Donald Trump – 60 million
6. Bethany Frankel – 55 million
7. (Tie) Ellen Degeneres, David Letterman, Judge Judy Sheindlin – 45 million
8. Glen Beck – 40 million

Ryan Seacrests earnings are up 20% since last year’s list. A breakdown of his earnings: Clear Channel Radio ($20 million a year), Idol parent CKX ($15 million) and the Comcast Entertainment Group ($15 million).

To compile our earnings numbers we talked to agents, lawyers, producers and other industry insiders to come up with an estimate for what each personality earned between May 1, 2010 and May 1, 2011. Earnings consist of pretax gross income. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted.

About mj santilli 34858 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!