Hollywood's Top-Paid Talking Heads

Forbes - August 27, 2008 9:31 AM PDT
Story photo: Hollywood's Top-Paid Talking HeadsOprah Winfrey/Splash News OnlineForbes
Whoever said talk is cheap hasn't met Oprah Winfrey. Or Howard Stern. Or David Letterman.

And these three aren't the only ones being paid big bucks to gab. Between June 1, 2007, and June 1, 2008, the 10 stars on our list of the best-paid personalities banked a combined $604 million largely on their ability to do precisely that: talk.

Winfrey tops the list, pulling in $275 million over the course of the year, nearly four times what the second-best paid talker pulled down during the same period.

In addition to her flagship production, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the self-made billionaire's multi-media empire also includes two self-titled magazines, an XM Satellite Radio show and an active production company. During the year, she drew headlines for her support of presidential hopeful Barack Obama and prime-time viewers for her ABC reality series "Oprah's Big Give."

Up next: Hollywood's most powerful celebrity will roll out the Oprah Winfrey Network in partnership with Discovery Communications.

In Pictures: Hollywood's Top-Paid Talking Heads
In Video: Top-Paid TV and Radio Hosts

More galleries on Forbes.com
  • Hollywood's Best Stars for the Buck
  • Hollywood's Best-Paid Actors
  • Hollywood's Top-10 Earning Actresses


    • Talk show host and media king Howard Stern is second on our list, with earnings of $70 million over the year-long period.

    Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio deal pays him $100 million a year, minus the production costs for the show, which come out of his pocket. The downside: His famously raunchy fare doesn't get nearly as many listeners as it did on his former over-the-air gig.

    Tied for third, late-night host David Letterman and daytime TV's Judge Judy Sheindlin each earned $45 million.

    While the veteran jokester continually loses out to rival Jay Leno in the ratings, Letterman has something else over the Tonight Show host: He owns a stake in his CBS show. The monetary leg-up also proved a strategic one last December, when Letterman's production company, WorldWide Pants, hammered out a deal with its striking Writers Guild members to get them back to work.

    Sheindlin, a tough-talking former New York City family court judge, has been gaining fame and money alike since she arrived on the national scene in the early 1990s. Three years after "60 Minutes" profiled her, Hollywood producers offered the judge her own television show, "Judge Judy."

    Some 12 years later, the daytime legal series is a ratings phenomenon. With an average viewership of 5.6 million, "Judge Judy" regularly trounces all 11 other court shows and often beats daytime leader Oprah. (Only "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" consistently rank higher among all of the syndicated series tracked by Nielsen.) Last year, Sheindlin renegotiated her contract with CBS, boosting her salary to $45 million a year through 2013.

    Rounding out the top five best-paid personalities: Dr. Phil McGraw, who raked in a cool $40 million during the year-long period.

    The relationship guru -- and Oprah Winfrey protege -- courted both consumers and controversy over the course of the year. The former through his syndicated show "Dr. Phil," as well as his Match.com endorsement and many best-selling books; the latter from his highly-publicized intervention with a then-hospitalized Britney Spears. Some three months later, McGraw caught still more flak when a producer on his show posted bail for the ringleader of a group of teen girls who viciously beat another girl on video.

    Coming next: a "Dr. Phil" spinoff, "The Doctors," hosted by TV personality and ER physician Dr. Travis Stork.

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  • mike
    Nobody is worth that much money,I'm wondering what % of humility can be found in any of them?
    report abuseposted October 4, 2008 4:29 AM PDT
  • Robert G
    their all insanely over paid
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 12:08 PM PDT
  • Michael L
    I take issue with the statement about Oprah being a self-made billionare. And folks have put her on too high a pedestal. As for the rest of the folks on the list .... YAWN !!!! Enjoy the $$$ and fame while it lasts. I'm wondering what % of humility can be found in any of them?
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 12:08 PM PDT
  • SteelersX5
    Who cares, I think they make way too much money.
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 11:50 AM PDT
  • charles j
    who care about money, You will be cursed with it or not, You will be bless in God's blessing
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 11:30 AM PDT
  • PJ
    Nobody is worth that much money. No wonder things cost us regular Joes so much, the advertisers have to pay their salary and we get that cost passed on to us. I don't like filth, weird spiriutal mumbo-jumbo, making fun of others, or exploiting families for TV ratings. Judge Judy is the best of them all, but she is still not worth $45 mil. Money still won't buy happiness! That
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 11:20 AM PDT
  • Mark in Illinois
    Congratulations Oprah! But you shouldn't have your name attached anywhere near a diet product.
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 10:57 AM PDT
  • ron b
    Dr. Phil is a self -absorbed loser and posting bail for that animal who gangbeat that poor girl...we hope to see much less of you in the future.
    report abuseposted September 3, 2008 10:37 AM PDT
  • princess
    amazing guy its so obvious how ur jealous from her?is it because she is successful in wut she is doing and probably ur not?is it because she have money n maybe u dont?n y do u hate her dat much?she helps poor people all over the world n she is a great person.beside she wasnt borned wid a golden spoon in her mouth n she worked harde for everything she have now so may god bless her!!
    report abuseposted August 29, 2008 8:04 AM PDT
  • princess
    this is for skull.u r just an ignorant uneducated jealous person.i truly feel sorry for u coz u have limited thinking and unfortunately small tiny piece of crap dat u have which is ur brain!!first of all she didnt just go rich or she is born rich she worked hard for it and she earned it.plus she have the right to vote for anyone she wish as u have the right to vote for anyone u want too
    report abuseposted August 29, 2008 8:00 AM PDT
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