*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.
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Doesn't Leo Laporte count as a media person?i.e. he
ReplyDeletewould make your list.
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.
DeleteLeo 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.
DeleteAs I remember, Brinker's show is syndicated.
DeleteDoesn't Sara (Sara & Vinnie) KLLC make what Ron makes?
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Sara so I doubt she makes more than $100k...
Deletei know for a FACT that sarah clarke WITH AN 'H' makes well over 100k you could triple that number and not be close.
DeletePretty 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.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Cook as a newbie 20 something is making 200k? I'm shocked!
ReplyDeleteMaking more than veteran Vic Lee? I realize they are two different stations. Still.
DeleteSo am I.
DeleteWell, 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.
DeleteThe 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.
DeleteGee, 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.....
ReplyDeleteYeah 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.
Delete5:28 you made me laugh out loud. So true.
DeleteWith 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.
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...
ReplyDeleteFatnich 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.
DeleteSpeaking of buffoons and backwards hats covering minimal brainpower-what's Eric Byrnes, aka Burnzee's,making?
ReplyDeletebuffoons and backwards hats. Very good.
DeleteByrnes 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.
DeleteAnd 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..?
ReplyDeleteKarel makes minimum wage ... and it shows. Not even worth that.
ReplyDeleteBased on his talent, it appears that Radnich is overpaid by $300,000 per year.
ReplyDeleteHow does Elizabeth Cook rate $200,000???
ReplyDeleteDon Bleu (KOSF) should be on this list. He makes well above $150k per year. Even JV (KYLD) and Chuey (KMEL) are above that figure.
ReplyDeleteFatnich 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.
ReplyDeleteBut 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.
DeleteBill Martin is the most entertaining segment.
DeleteRich, you forgot one. Yours.
ReplyDeleteLet's have it.
No need to be shy.
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.
ReplyDeleteRich 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.
DeleteWhoa, Horsie... WHO SAYS these numbers are accurate?
Delete"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.
Sheep will follow.. and boy is that radnich horrible, so bad i have to get back to listening to his show.
DeleteTV is still the best paying media gig!
ReplyDeleteOkay, 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!
ReplyDeleteObviously, 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
DeleteHaener hasn't been here as long as Somerville.
DeleteIt'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?
DeleteAsk Ron Burgundy.
DeleteWow...the TV salaries have dropped! I remember when Pete Wilson and Mac (Dave McElhatton) were both making around $1.2 million per year.
ReplyDeleteAdd them all up. Double it. Add another half mil... That's what Dana King is worth... be still my heart...
ReplyDeleteDOD..300GRAND..and thirty? Is that a "Only Ibanez should be making more then me" statement?
ReplyDeleteWhat about Fitz Giggles and Greg Papa? They got to be over $150,000 a year. Kruc and Kiep make a million each too.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Darya on that list. I guess she doesn't make that much. I wonder what my odds are now....
ReplyDeleteHow on Earth could KTVU pay Rita Williams a measly $150K and pay that Chicklet-toothed Haener all that money? Jeez ...
ReplyDeleteDibbs is getting 35 K at the 'game,' about 5 grand more than he got at KNBR.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
DeleteI've always wondered how so many low-level Bay Area media members live in Oakland's expensive Montclair District.
DeleteHowever, 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.
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.
Deleteand ps. bishop o' dowd enrolls more kids that cant pay tuition than can, do some reading.
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.
DeleteI thought Mike Mibach and John Susaki would be top 20...
ReplyDeleteOnly 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.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting info - I will kick in some dough to your effort for this alone
ReplyDeleteA 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.
ReplyDeleteWhere'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.
ReplyDeleteRonn 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.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way Vic Lee makes $150,000. Reporters at KGO with meaningful experience make more than that.
ReplyDeleteVic 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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!
DeleteIbanez makes that much and can't even pronounce "Chiney Ogwumike?"
ReplyDeleteKGO radio pays the most ? ... It sounds like a college training radio station now.
ReplyDeleteThey 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.
11:27pm
ReplyDeleteBitter former employee?
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!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. 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?
DeleteWhat about the lady with the hats?
ReplyDeleteKGO radio .... The new "Bay Area" home ..... For Scott Shannon's " True Oldies Channel "
ReplyDelete.......bye bye Red Eye Radio RIP.
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!
ReplyDeleteToo many missing: Lamont and Tonelli, Krukow and Kaiper, Miller and Fleming, Greg Papa. I seriously doubt any of these are making less that $150K.
ReplyDeleteRich,
ReplyDeleteI'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
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.
ReplyDeletewhat aboiut Jessica Aguirre?
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteMr. L,
ReplyDeleteQuestion - What do the morning hacks like that Mark Danon and Dayra Folsom @ KRON pull in annually.
Thanks