Wogan derides Beeb for 'lunatic overpayments'
Terry Wogan says the BBC is wasting licence fee money on overpaid presenters
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Sunday, 22, Oct 2006 12:42
Veteran broadcaster Terry Wogan has accused the BBC of "overpaying" its presenters and lacking creative talent itself.
In a new book of essays on the TV industry, Wogan writes that "lunatics have taken over the asylum", drawing comparisons between the UK's TV scene with money-grabbing agents in Hollywood.
Although the Radio 2 host does not play the name blame game, the 68-year-old slams the BBC's willingness to pay "those much-trumpeted seven-figure deals".
Eyebrows were raised when Film 2006 host Jonathan Ross was tied down to a three-year contract reportedly worth £18 million after rumours abounded that Channel 4 were prepared to pounce for the popular presenter.
"Frankly the BBC is often giving huge quantities of money to people who would prefer to work for the corporation anyway. We can all name stars who have been persuaded to cross over from BBC to ITV, and it has ended in tears," Wogan said, in extracts of Shooting Stars, a Collection of Essays, Musings and Rants on Talent on TV, published by the Sunday Telegraph.
"The culture now in television is that the presenter calls the financial and, increasingly, the creative shots," he adds.
But Wogan, who is something of a TV institution himself, said that he is "worth every penny of the small fortune they deign to pay me".