Nowhere is the structural decline of linear television more on full display than in late night. For decades, the shows were reliable cash cows for the networks, but in recent years analysts estimate that none turn a profit. Then, in July, CBS made the abrupt decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, citing $40 million in losses per year. And both ABC and NBC trimmed budgets last fall by moving to four-nights-per-week, whether their hosts wanted to or not. “I was bummed,” Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon tells Forbes. “I want to do it five days a week. I love doing it.”
Still, a late-night talk show gig comes with a salary that places Fallon ($16 million), Jimmy Kimmel ($16 million) and Stephen Colbert ($15 million) among the highest-paid hosts on television, according to Forbes estimates. Even in its diminished state, linear television still generates significant revenue for networks, and it’s the talent from categories like late-night, morning shows, primetime news, sports and lifestyle who remain TV’s biggest stars. Combined, the top 25 hosts earn an estimated $582 million. With few exceptions, they make far more money than the stars of TV’s hit scripted shows.
But with late-night extinction seemingly on the horizon, many have begun questioning whether hosts like Fallon will be the last to lead their respective programs—even one as long-running and venerable as The Tonight Show, which NBC has aired since 1954.
“Oh gosh,” Fallon says, while contemplating whether he will be Tonight’s last host. “No, there'll be someone else. And I don't think it'll be a robot. I think it has to be a human being that makes mistakes and has a real conversation with people.”
At the very least, it’s almost certain that this generation of TV stars will be the last mega-earners the medium ever produces. Most in the top 25 hosts have been in the spotlight for decades, and across the board, agents and managers report a strong downward pressure on compensation during contract renewal negotiations. Often the best that top talent can hope for is to maintain their salary from past years, and in many cases networks require work on additional shows or projects to justify staying at the same level financially. For example, in addition to late-night, Fallon and Kimmel now host game shows for their respective networks.
Elsewhere, celebrity chefs are still living extra-large. Guy Fieri ($33 million), Bobby Flay ($33 million) and Gordon Ramsay ($33 million) each oversee a small universe of shows, and have earned overall production deals similar to those given to top scripted TV showrunners, trading profit participation for guaranteed annual fees.
The details of these deals are usually closely guarded secrets. When one leaks out, like Fieri’s three-year, $100 million deal with the Food Network in late 2023, it can cause a correction in the market as competitors demand the same compensation—as was the case for Flay and Ramsay. And large contracts make for bad optics when networks have layoffs. Disney, for example, cut nearly 200 jobs from its ABC News and Disney Entertainment Networks divisions in March, just a few months after renewing Good Morning America’s George Stephanopolous for an estimated $17 million annually.
The exception to this trend is sports, where salaries have risen sharply in recent years and new talent has had the opportunity to break-in. Sports broadcasters and studio personalities account for eight of the top 25 this year, including seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who, as a Fox football analyst, tops the list at $37.5 million annually.
In the not-too-distant past, the idea that sports broadcasters could make more money than the athletes they talk about would have been ludicrous. But with media companies shelling out billions for league rights, and those games becoming by far the most-watched events on television, paying a few million more for premium talent is seen both as an insurance policy for content quality and also an incentive for leagues to steer their best games to the network.
The 48-year-old Brady was hired, for example, to bring star power to Fox’s NFL broadcasts after Troy Aikman ($18 million) and Joe Buck ($16 million) were lured away to call ESPN’s biggest football games.
“As sports becomes a differentiator, and as sports rights become more precious and expensive, given both the attention and the number of entities negotiating for them, that certainly causes other content formats and money to be pushed out,” says Neal Zuckerman, a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group. “There's only so much you can spend on content in order to make a reasonably profitable business.”
Another bright spot on the list is the number of women who are represented. Three hosts —Judy Sheindlen ($28 million), Rachel Maddow and Robin Roberts (both at $25 million)—are among the 10 highest-paid personalities on TV, while two more, Savannah Guthrie ($24 million) and Kelly Ripa ($22 million), rank among the top 15.
But those outsize paydays will soon come to an end. Streaming platforms do not offer talent salaries comparable to the largest TV deals. Instead, platforms like YouTube share 55% of ad revenue with creators, incentivizing talent to bet on themselves. When the model works, it gives hosts bargaining power, as is the case with Pat McAfee ($20 million), who maintains ownership and editorial control of his daily talk show while licensing it to ESPN for a hefty fee (a portion of those earnings go toward paying his staff and production costs). Many in the industry believe there will be more deals like his in the future.
In the meantime, here are the hosts commanding the most.
Television insiders say the true value of Fox's Hail Mary deal to land the seven-time Super Bowl champion after his retirement from football in 2022 is impossible to calculate, since some of his compensation is in company stock (the price of which has risen significantly since Brady signed). In addition to his duties in the commentary booth, which began last fall to mixed reviews, Brady serves as a Fox ambassador in a number of company functions, which are used to justify the enormous compensation package.
The mayor of Flavortown reset the market for lifestyle talent with his three-year, $100 million overall deal signed in late 2023, making him the highest-paid talent at the Food Network after it merged with Warner Bros. Discovery a year earlier. The 57-year-old restauranteur has made nearly 600 episodes of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives since it debuted in 2007, and he produces or appears in numerous programs across the WBD portfolio.
Overall deals like Flay’s, which was renewed in November to match Fieri's annual total, charges every talent, producing and personal appearance fee, and in some cases even cuts of ancillary businesses like physical products and restaurants, against a set annual total. To make the deal worth it, the 60-year-old chef will have to stay busy, with Bobby’s Triple Threat debuting earlier this month and two other shows, Beat Bobby Flay and BBQ Brawl, currently in production.
Much like the other top chefs on TV, Ramsey has set up a mini-universe of culinary shows for Fox, including Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, and Next Level Chef, enough to land the same top-of-market overall deal value in March. Yet unlike Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri, the 58-year-old Ramsay currently holds eight Michelin stars in his restaurant group and 40 million followers on TikTok, where he blew up during the pandemic roasting other users’ cooking videos.
HBO's late-night offering Last Week Tonight is an Emmys juggernaut—winning 30 statues in the past 10 years—and drives an impressive amount of sign-ups to the re-rechristened HBO Max, which is how its 48-year-old host has earned a deal nearly double the size of what his late-night colleagues make at the networks. Much to Oliver's dismay, last year Warner Bros. Discovery hoped to maximize streaming engagement by delaying the posting of the show's clips to YouTube for several days, but reversed course with the 12th season in February.
Last September, Seacrest replaced the legendary Pat Sajak as the host of Wheel of Fortune, in addition to his regular hosting duties on American Idol and ABC’s New Years Eve program (which he also produces). Add in his radio show, which runs for four hours every weekday and pays him more than $10 million per year, and the 50-year-old host is almost never not on the air.
In her heyday, Judge Judy commanded more than $45 million per year for her eponymous show and owned the rights to its catalog of episodes. Since selling the rights back to CBS and leaving the network in 2021 (she remains a producer on the network's Hot Bench), the 82-year-old Sheindlin has started up two new court shows on Amazon's streaming channels. In a 2024 deal renewal, Amazon began syndicating Judy Justice out to hundreds of local TV stations, an important bargaining chip to maintain her lofty fees.
Strahan is earning more money as a TV host than he ever did as a Hall of Fame defensive end for the New York Giants. He has lucrative deals with both Fox, as a studio analyst on the network's NFL coverage, and with ABC, to co-host Good Morning America and The $100,000 Pyramid. In addition to his TV work, Strahan also has revenue from personal appearances and his company, SMAC Entertainment, a talent management company that houses his personal brand.
While meteoric talents have come and gone from Fox News, the 63-year-old Hannity has been at the network since its inception in 1996, making him the longest-running primetime host in cable history. And these days, TV isn't even his main gig—Hannity’s syndicated radio program reaches more than 600 stations nationwide, and his ownership stake in the show earns him more than $30 million each year.
During an MSNBC contract renewal in late 2024, it's estimated that Maddow took a salary cut from $30 million annually to $25 million (a network spokesperson disputed the reported number), two years after switching from a five-nights-a-week schedule to appearing only on Mondays. Still, she remains the face of the recently rebranded MS NOW and has found other platforms to share her political commentary, including a weekly podcast and a handful of best-selling books.
Morning shows are not only still highly profitable, in the case of Good Morning America, Forbes estimates the show accounts for the majority of ABC’s broadcast news revenue. That’s why the 64-year-old Roberts, who celebrated 20 years as GMA’s co-anchor this year and has overseen the network’s No. 1 position in the ratings for the last 13 years consecutively, is the highest-paid talent at ABC. She also hosts primetime specials, such as a 20-year anniversary retrospective on Hurricane Katrina, which aired in late August.
Going toe-to-toe with Donald Trump at a town hall in 2020 led to a massive pay raise for the 53-year-old Today host, who was the highest-paid member of the show even before the departure of co-host Hoda Kotb in January, because of her ability to handle important political interviews for NBC as well as holiday specials like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony.
The 54-year-old morning show fixture has been through many co-hosts since taking the Live! job in early 2001, working with Regis Philbin, Michael Strahan and Ryan Seacrest before being paired with her husband, Mark Consuelos, in 2023. The duo also have a separate series on ESPN, Running With The Wolves, cataloging their journey owning Italian soccer club Campobasso FC.
Just a few years into a 10-year, $210 million contract with Turner Sports, Barkley threatened to retire last fall after his network lost the rights to broadcast NBA games. Instead, a deal was struck allowing Inside The NBA to continue being produced by Turner—keeping in place Barkley’s long-time co-hosts Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal (who Forbes estimates makes $15 million for the role)— but air before and after games on ESPN and ABC.
In March, the reigning champion of sports talk shows got a pay bump from $12 million to $20 million annually, believed to be the largest contract ever given to an ESPN talent. As part of the new deal, Stephen A. will actually appear on fewer ESPN programs, freeing up time for projects such as his podcast—and though he's denied it many times, perhaps a run at presidential politics.
ESPN's deal with the former Indiana Colts punter includes talent fees for his work on College Gameday and a licensing fee to air The Pat McAfee Show on the network, which the 38-year-old host uses to pay his staff and production costs. The deal structure means less take-home pay, but he maintains ownership and editorial control of the program. McAfee also served as a longtime commentator for WWE matches until June, when he stepped back from the role, citing fatigue.
ESPN’s desire to have a Super Bowl-ready broadcast team for the 2026 season came at a price, luring the Hall of Famer away from Fox with a contract that is just a wee bit larger than the one CBS gave to fellow former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Romo’s total includes money he pays to a traveling editorial assistant and spotter on game days.
Romo’s 10-year, $180 million deal with CBS kicked off an earnings bonanza in early 2020, ushering in the era where NFL broadcast talent can earn more money than most of the players on the field. While the ex-Dallas Cowboys quarterback still sits in the No. 1 booth with Jim Nantz, he could soon be feeling the pressure around the corner from former defensive end JJ Watt, who was recently signed to CBS' No. 2 team.
Though Cooper serves as an occasional correspondent to CBS’ 60 Minutes, the real money comes from his work on CNN, where he hosts a primetime show every weeknight and a weekly deep dive show on Sundays. The 58-year-old has been at the network since 2001.
Since 2010, Harvey has hosted more than 1,100 episodes of Family Feud, not including international versions and spin-offs. One of those, Celebrity Family Feud, had its biggest season premiere in three years in July, attracting 4.2 million viewers. The 68-year-old earns also earns several million from a syndicated radio show on weekday mornings.
A verbal slip-up from the Good Morning America co-host last fall led to Donald Trump’s libel lawsuit against ABC and the network’s subsequent $15 million settlement payout. But ABC immediately backed the 64-year-old political veteran, renewing his deal in December. The pact includes a new politics show on Hulu and four hour-long primetime specials, though it’s ABC’s David Muir, not Stephanopolous, who will continue to host the network’s special news reports.
In one of the more unique sports media moves in recent history, Fox let Joe Buck out of the last year of his contract in 2022 to join booth partner Troy Aikman at ESPN, in exchange for the broadcast rights to a Penn State-Purdue college football game. The 56-year-old Buck is now the highest-paid play-by-play announcer in sports history, and though he called a record 24 World Series at his previous network, he’s largely stuck to Monday Night Football at ESPN, outside of a few one-off MLB games like this year’s Opening Day Brewers-Yankees game.
$16 million
With a show ready-made for social media, Fallon’s The Tonight Show dominates late-night competitors in the digital space—but remains third in the ratings. And the 50-year-old host has found another use for his joyful enthusiasm, hosting game shows like Password and That’s My Jam as well as a new reality competition show On Brand that debuts on NBC on September 30.
ABC’s late-night host since 2003, Kimmel has publicly mulled retirement for years and has a contract that will expire in mid-2026. Outside of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the 57-year-old comedian hosts the rebooted celebrity version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and voiced a character in this summer’s Smurfs movie. During this Emmy season, Kimmel has actively campaigned for his direct competitor, Stephen Colbert, calling CBS’s claims that Colbert’s show was losing $40 million per year “beyond nonsensical."
Colbert is a favorite to win the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series this weekend, which would be his first win as host of The Late Show—though he did previously win 10 for The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. The 61-year-old host will remain on CBS until next May, and news of his cancellation has only juiced his viewership ratings further over his competitors.
Estimations were calculated through interviews with agents, lawyers, managers, executives and industry experts. The figures represent pretax earnings specifically for TV work, though many talents on the list earn significant additional income from radio, endorsements, entrepreneurial ventures, personal appearances, investments or other categories. Fees for representation (agent, manager, lawyer etc.) are not deducted.
Hosts are compensated with variety of deal structures, including traditional salaries, overall production deals for a slate of projects, or licensing agreements from which a talent pays staff and production costs. The above rankings estimate the total earnings paid by media companies to talent.