Monday, March 26, 2012

2012 SF Bay Area Top 20 Media Celebrity Salaries



*TOP 20 BAY AREA MEDIA SALARIES, (Revised: 2012)

1. Ronn Owens: KGO Radio: $1,037,000

2. Frank Somerville: KTVU: $600,000

3. Dana King: KPIX: $575,000

4. Julie Haener: KTVU: $500,000

5. Dan Ashley: KGO-TV: $500,000

6. Carolyn Johnson: KGO-TV: $400,000

7. Ken Bastida: KPIX: $400,000

8. Mark Ibanez: KTVU: $342,000

9. Ralph Barbieri: KNBR Radio: $300,000

10. Tom Tolbert: KNBR Radio: $300,000

11. Dennis O'Donnell: KPIX: $300,030

12. Raj Mathai: KNTV, (NBC Bay Area) $300,000

13. Gary Radnich: KNBR/KRON: $300,000, (includes KRON "at-will" salary, (estimated)

14. Tom Vacar: KTVU: $200,000

15. Wayne Freedman: KGO-TV: $200,000

16. Pam Moore: KRON: $200,000

17: Elizabeth Cook: KPIX: $200,000

18: Vic Lee: KGO-TV: $150,000

19. Rita Williams:  KTVU: $150,000

20: Bill Martin: KTVU:  $150,000

**Figures based on industry and station sources; deferred compensation not credited.

*Follow me on Twitter

75 comments:

  1. A lot Of these salaries are way down, as expected. I'm stumped by Radnich's mere 300k across KRON and KNIBBER. that new 2 yr deal must have cost a 60-70% cut

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doesn't Leo Laporte count as a media person?i.e. he
    would make your list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leo is based in Petaluma and is nationally syndicated on Newtalk 910 once a week. He also does podcasts on his site twit.tv. This list is just local people.

      Delete
    2. Leo Laporte is not local baby. Neither is Bob Brinker nor Mike Norie. On a side note: Raddie's pay took a huge cut. As I recall he used to make around $250k just from KNBR. Ibanez makes more than Raddy without having to act like a buffoon to appease the backwards hat wearing crowd.

      Delete
    3. As I remember, Brinker's show is syndicated.

      Delete
  3. Doesn't Sara (Sara & Vinnie) KLLC make what Ron makes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Never heard of Sara so I doubt she makes more than $100k...

      Delete
    2. i know for a FACT that sarah clarke WITH AN 'H' makes well over 100k you could triple that number and not be close.

      Delete
  4. Pretty amazing - considering the market. I wouldn't be surprised if they were at about the same level (more or less) than they were 15-20 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elizabeth Cook as a newbie 20 something is making 200k? I'm shocked!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Making more than veteran Vic Lee? I realize they are two different stations. Still.

      Delete
    2. Well, she's holding on to more of it now, considering how much of her dough used to go for hair styling and re-styling each week.

      Delete
    3. The above post of mine--11:58--was not supposed to refer to Elizabeth Cook. It referred to Dana King, whose ever-changing hair was for a time as big a story on 'PIX as anything the news staff reported...sorry for any confusion, which was mine.

      Delete
  6. Gee, for that much money, you'd think that Ronn wouldn't sound like a kidnap hostage reading a ransom note in the latest KGO spot stressing their "local" advantage.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah that little segment he does is pretty funny. Says you want to know about the fire down the street because it is so very local. If there is a fire down the street, I won't need to hear about it on the radio. I can walk down the street and see it. If the fire is in another town or another street, I'm not particularly interested. A house fire is very local, not of much interest or danger to other than those in the immediate vicinity. Not like an earthquake or the hills fire which is much more regional. But KGOne sure hopes for lots of fires so they have something local to report.

      Delete
    2. 5:28 you made me laugh out loud. So true.
      With that big salary, there is no doubt that this is his last year at KGO unless he wants to work for far less which is unlikely, plus he doesn't draw the fantasy demographic desired by KGO. Those people don't listen to a.m. radio all that much.

      Delete
  7. Wait until Raddy see's the $700 bill for a change of spark plugs,$3-5,000 for a tune up. Looking super wealthy is a bitch...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fatnich made a lot of money when he was in his prime, probably a 100 pounds ago, he got to be in his early to mid 60's and he has young kids, those spark plus will be expensive. Don't know why he is still so bitter, made some big bucks on little talent he has had.

      Delete
  8. Speaking of buffoons and backwards hats covering minimal brainpower-what's Eric Byrnes, aka Burnzee's,making?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. buffoons and backwards hats. Very good.

      Delete
    2. Byrnes made $30 million off his Diamondbacks contract alone, and he loves the sound of his own voice, so he probably said Yes to KNBR's first lowball deal.

      Delete
  9. And Dibbs at THEGAME..and the rest? any best guesses? I think he was paid WELL under 40 grand at KNBR..so a raise at THEGAME became..?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Karel makes minimum wage ... and it shows. Not even worth that.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Based on his talent, it appears that Radnich is overpaid by $300,000 per year.

    ReplyDelete
  12. How does Elizabeth Cook rate $200,000???

    ReplyDelete
  13. Don Bleu (KOSF) should be on this list. He makes well above $150k per year. Even JV (KYLD) and Chuey (KMEL) are above that figure.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fatnich got a huge paycut, he is pretty horrific, same rountine the rare occasions I listen to him.He is still is way overpaid Ralph and Tom $600,000, way overpaid, Ralph does not follow sports anymore and he looks like a intern compared to Tom's knowledge, although Tom can't ask a question to a guest under 100 words. I have no idea why they have Bill Martin on KNBR, that is a waste of air, although I would get rid of all of the weathermen, and just have a ticker on the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But if they don't have a weather reporter, who is going to tell us the temperatures for every single city in the Bay Area -- when they all vary by only a degree or two. What a waste of air time.

      Delete
    2. Bill Martin is the most entertaining segment.

      Delete
  15. Rich, you forgot one. Yours.

    Let's have it.

    No need to be shy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Back in 2008, Live 105's Woody claimed that Sarah Clark of Sarah and Vinnie fame on Alice (97.3 FM), makes about $1.2 mill a year. He was pissed cuz his ratinge were higher and he makes much less.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rich needs to get on top of that rumor. How can someone not known by 2/3rds of the Bay Area make that much? On a side note, where does Sussman rank? Is he getting paid Karel money? No wonder he constantly peddles his stupid anti-global warming doort stop book.

      Delete
    2. Whoa, Horsie... WHO SAYS these numbers are accurate?
      "industry sources"?? "Estimates"?? Yet all these people are commenting on the figures as if they are real. THIS is a perfect example of why blogs and social media are so dangerous. Questionable info published..people accept it as fact. Yet NO one has verified any of this. Sad, so very sad.

      Delete
    3. Sheep will follow.. and boy is that radnich horrible, so bad i have to get back to listening to his show.

      Delete
  17. TV is still the best paying media gig!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Okay, the REAL BIG issue here is "gender discrimination" and it has been going on for years, most notably at KTVU. AFTRA, the "paper-tiger" union, should do something about it, but lacks the spine! Look at the list- only Dana King makes more than her male counterpart, but that's only because Dana was a network news anchor/reporter before coming back to the Bay Area. Haener and Johnson ought to be getting "equal pay, for equal work." The worst slight is Rita Williams - the BEST reporter in the Bay Area, male or female! Her exclusives and depth have carried a newsroom- now full of amateurish kids- for many years! Shame on KTVU and Cox, its owner!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obviously, the salaries listed above are in the category of 'Personal Services Contracts' where the talent negotiates a contract above the minimums set by AFTRA. Pretty much everyone in TV has a PSC. AFTRA sets minimum scale, although they do enforce AFTRA negotiated work rules in PSCs

      Delete
    2. Haener hasn't been here as long as Somerville.

      Delete
    3. It's not about length of service, it's about quality of work, and paying people for essentially doing the exact same thing, i.e. reading a teleprompter. How hard can that be?

      Delete
    4. Ask Ron Burgundy.

      Delete
  19. Wow...the TV salaries have dropped! I remember when Pete Wilson and Mac (Dave McElhatton) were both making around $1.2 million per year.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Add them all up. Double it. Add another half mil... That's what Dana King is worth... be still my heart...

    ReplyDelete
  21. DOD..300GRAND..and thirty? Is that a "Only Ibanez should be making more then me" statement?

    ReplyDelete
  22. What about Fitz Giggles and Greg Papa? They got to be over $150,000 a year. Kruc and Kiep make a million each too.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I don't see Darya on that list. I guess she doesn't make that much. I wonder what my odds are now....

    ReplyDelete
  24. How on Earth could KTVU pay Rita Williams a measly $150K and pay that Chicklet-toothed Haener all that money? Jeez ...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Dibbs is getting 35 K at the 'game,' about 5 grand more than he got at KNBR.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always wondered how he was able to afford to live in Montclair. Family money or is the wife bringing in the $? I saw him a few times on Mountain blvd with his lovely kids.

      Delete
    2. I've always wondered how so many low-level Bay Area media members live in Oakland's expensive Montclair District.

      However, I know that Dan Dibley has other gigs other than 95.7 The Game. He works for Comcast Sports Net California as the sideline reporter for the San Jose Earthquakes (Major League Soccer) for about 20 games a season. Also, he does play-by-play for Comcast Home Network's coverage of the California League (Single-A baseball) and does radio commercials for Oakland-based solar firm Sungevity.

      If you add up all his gigs, I'm guessing Dibley probably pulls in close to $70,000/year (if it really is true that The Game is only paying him $35,000.) That's still not nearly enough to afford Montclair. I wonder how the heck his kids are going to go to Bishop O'Dowd.

      Delete
    3. Haha, who told you dibber lives in Montclair? He lives but a stray bullet from east oakland proper in a whopping 1200 sq foot mansion.

      and ps. bishop o' dowd enrolls more kids that cant pay tuition than can, do some reading.

      Delete
    4. No need to make stuff up Stevo. I live in Montclair and have seen Dibbs several times in the village with his kids and tall wife. His kids attend Thornhill elementary. Those in the know with kids, live in Montclair until it is time to attend high school. At that point you either send your kids to College Prep or move to Piedmont, Orinda or Moraga.

      Delete
  26. I thought Mike Mibach and John Susaki would be top 20...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Only 4 out of those 20 are minorities. Kind of sad you'd expect a few more on that list in the very diverse Bay Area market.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is interesting info - I will kick in some dough to your effort for this alone

    ReplyDelete
  29. A lot of radio folk are making very large dollars. The Sarah number is a number close to a million...Lamont & Tonelli are probably 350-400 each. These are not uncommon number for morning drive hosts. Don Bleu, for many years was 500K+. The morning hosts on Wild and Now are well paid...200K or so per main player. While some of the radio numbers are less than a few years ago, morning shows on radio still command a fairly good number. Even Stan Bunger on KCBS is doing well.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Where's Mike Sugarman?? He's on a par with Wayne Freedman and does both radio and TV. You'd think he'd be in the $200-300K range.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Ronn Owens may be making over one million, but by the sound of his defeated voice and demeanor since the December firings, it doesn't mean squat. I'm a pauper compared to him, but I am not selling my soul to the devil like he is with those weak and pathetic commercials for the new and EXCITING kgo. So true, money doesn't buy happiness. Another eight months of hearing that tired man before they fire him. Sad, sad, sad.

    ReplyDelete
  32. There is no way Vic Lee makes $150,000. Reporters at KGO with meaningful experience make more than that.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Vic Lee, 150,000? that should be against the law. This guy has done foreign reporting, he is one of the best there is. Roberta Gonzalez 600,000? Equally outrageous. She's an idiot. She speaks in some some weird random affected voice, and no, it is not a residual spanish accent, even if it was or was not her first langugage. I can't get over Vic Lee. He is a GREAT reporter. And Somerville? This guy can't get through a single report without stumbling all over himself. Rita Williams is another one grossly underpaid. Glad to see one woman, Dana King, paid a lot because she is really a pro and deserves every nickel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree--on both Vic Lee being under-paid and Roberta Gonzalez being waaaay over-paid! Shocking! They could buy three good weather people for what they pay her!

      Delete
  34. Ibanez makes that much and can't even pronounce "Chiney Ogwumike?"

    ReplyDelete
  35. KGO radio pays the most ? ... It sounds like a college training radio station now.
    They have tanked in the ratings. The news they keep repeating is "Old" sometimes 3 days old!
    I guess Ron Owens just fills-in.... so they have time to look for more news. Mostly old news.
    They might as well change formats again and become a music station or something.

    ReplyDelete
  36. 11:27pm

    Bitter former employee?

    ReplyDelete
  37. No way on earth does Ronnn deserve that kind of salary or stature. He's a joke and couldn't hold a candle to any of the TV people listed. (He is awful on TV!) He should be pulled as soon as possible. I bet they could buy him out half way through his current contract--just to get rid of him!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed. Ronnnnnnnnnnn was on jury duty today so Thurston filled in and she was great. If they threw his ass out and replaced him with Pat I'd be happy. The problem at KGONE is the number of commercial breaks, half of which are public announcements. Why put redundant public announcements constantly?

      Delete
  38. What about the lady with the hats?

    ReplyDelete
  39. KGO radio .... The new "Bay Area" home ..... For Scott Shannon's " True Oldies Channel "
    .......bye bye Red Eye Radio RIP.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Have some balls asshole and post ALL the comments you thin-skinned chicken shit. Oh yeah, you won't because you are just a POSER! Print that!

    ReplyDelete
  41. South Bay ListenerApril 4, 2012 at 8:43 PM

    Too many missing: Lamont and Tonelli, Krukow and Kaiper, Miller and Fleming, Greg Papa. I seriously doubt any of these are making less that $150K.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Rich,
    I'll be coming at you with my most attractive not most beautiful female anchors in the Bay Area. Let's see how the saleries compare with my list. Like AI some surprises.
    Mycalbe

    ReplyDelete
  43. Rich...all I can say is these salaries are way off. At least your last 10 or so. Some of those folks make way more than you say on your list and there are many more who make quite a bit more than $150K that don't appear at all. Salaries have gone flat or even declined slightly, but not to the degree you have here. Might want to check with your "insiders" or the facts...again.

    ReplyDelete
  44. what aboiut Jessica Aguirre?

    ReplyDelete
  45. I agree - the numbers are way low. You are also missing Aguirre, Dwyer, Vu, Campbell to name a few women who all are making more than $150k.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Mr. L,

    Question - What do the morning hacks like that Mark Danon and Dayra Folsom @ KRON pull in annually.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete