Two years ago, I compiled a list of the twenty highest-compensated media people in the Bay Area.
Ronn Owens, (KGO Radio) was tops at just over $1 million, with the recently retired Dennis Richmond, (KTVU) second, at about $850,000. There are several mid to major anchors hovering in the $300-400K range, (Mark Ibanez, Dana King, etc) and Ralph Barbieri and Gary Radnich are in that neighborhood too, ($200-$300K respectively)
I'm not placing Michael Savage, (XTRA 860) nor Rush Limbaugh, (KSFO) in the discussion because they appear on local stations, but are syndicated. (Limbaugh is king with earnings hovering around $50 million a year, including his broadcast, book, and speech earnings; Savage earns a paltry $7 million or thereabouts)
Keep in mind that local earnings are considerably down from the good old pre-Internet days. At one point, Van Amburg of KGO-TV was the highest TV earner in the Bay Area, (about $900K in the mid 80's)
Someday soon, we'll post another Top 20.
