Sandi Toksvig paid 40% of Stephen Fry's pay for QI

After being pressed by the Women's Equality Party that she cofounded, Sandi Toksvig the current host claimed she is paid 40% of what former host Stephen Fry used to earn, and the same as what Alan Davies (permanent panellist) earns. She is not making a huge complaint about this, but since the BBC have decided to highlight it, maybe we can have some discussion. Toksvig has hinted that she is not entirely happy with things by saying it's because she likes the show and being the first woman to host such a show, but doesn't want a pay debate to be about her specifically.

Personally, I first encountered Sandi Toksvig on QI, whereas Stephen Fry was well known prior to its launch. For similar reasons I am not surprised that Rachel Riley earns less than Carol Vorderman was on Countdown - one helped build the show, the other owes a lot of their fame to that show. As such, I think it is fair enough to for Fry to have been paid significantly more.

Comparing Toksvig and Davies is a bit different, as Davies is almost a host on the show anyway, and he has presumably been having his pay increase year on year. I think I could go either way on this. There's not really much responsibility for the host in QI that isn't sorted out by editing (keeping discussions on track, pace of things etc), the comedy generally comes from the panellists, and the topics come from the elves.

What do you think? A glaring example of sexism by Fremantle Media, or just an instance where one person did justify higher pay, and they happened to be male?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Sataris

From the title I thought Sandi personally contributed 40% of Stephen's pay :lol:

But I agree with what you said; Stephen made the show what it is and Sandi is merely carrying on the legacy. Even so, 60% is a big discrepancy

Reply 2

Guru Jason

I doubt that Stephen earned that much when he started. He was doing the show for like 15 years or so. When Sandy has been running the show for the same amount of time, only then can we make a proper comparison. Complete non issue atm.

Nevertheless it's a great show and Sandy was a good choice as host when she started.

Reply 3

Just my opinion

She should be earning more.
She is half the size of Stephen Fry so half his salary should just about the right.👍

She isn't working for the council.
I would assume that stars on shows like that have their wages negotiated through their agents.

Claudia Winkleman is on considerably more than Tess Daly yet they both present Strictly side by side.

Reply 4

the bear

i think that Rachel deserves more £££ than Carol.... she is much much hotter

:fan:

Reply 5

username2393237

I agree with the guru

Reply 6

vicvic38

I'd be very interested to know how much Fry was paid at the beginning. He was a very established actor and comedian at that point, and while Toksvig is as well, she isn't quite to the extent Fry is.

Reply 7

Notoriety

Well, how many people who read this thread had to Google Sandi.

How many people had to Google Fry.

He was QI at the time, and Sandi proved the show is QI. The host's value should accordingly be decreased.

Reply 8

TimmonaPortella

Original post by vicvic38

I'd be very interested to know how much Fry was paid at the beginning.

Would you?

I wouldn't be interested in that at all.

I find it difficult to understand how anyone could find this whole business of second-guessing corporations' salary decisions and negotiations in individual, fact-specific cases anything other than deeply tedious.

Reply 9

username1738683

Original post by ThomH97

It is quite possible that Sandi is happy with her deal and that she is being pushed into the limelight, it helps to perpetuate the con in making these things a like-for-like comparison when they are not. People in the business are paid differently not because of their sex, everyone knows and understands that and why it has always been that way.The Asia correspondent at the BBC wasn't paid the same as the North American one or any other because she didn't do 'the same thing' as any of them, the American one has even to live over there, to cover the WH and the US in general. The Asia correspondent does it from here and had a lot less work to do.

Sarah Montague is another emblematic example of outrage, finding out she earned less than the blokes at the Today desk has resulted in a top slot of her own. Clear admission of guilt by the BBC, she was a victim of some kind. The other female presenter on the show was on nearly twice as much too, whatever we are to make of that...

As for Sandi, she probably has nothing much to loose by making some noise. With the current atmosphere at the BBC, she will get a lot of sympathy from the sexists in it. With them at the helm as they are...

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 10

vicvic38

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Ah, but you see, what you have failed to take into account is that I am...

:noonoo:

A nosey f*cker! :noonoo:

Reply 11

Neilos

Well... yeah. One is Stephen Fry, one is Sandi Toksvig.

If Real Madrid signed a good-but-not-amazing player to wear their No. 7 shirt, I doubt they'd expect to get what Cristiano Ronaldo was being paid.

Reply 12

TheMcSame

All I'm going to say is:

I know who Stephen Fry is.
I've never heard of Sandi Toksvig, hell, after Googling her, I thought she played Aunt Marge in Harry Potter, turns out that was Pam Ferris (who?)...

Fame pays. Having a vagina doesn't... In most industries...

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 13

math42

Aside from the very obvious arguments as to why this makes sense and is not evidence of sexism, which have already been made, I fail to see why I should really give a damn about how much some TV show host is being paid, when it is far more than they need to live comfortably on and they are pretty damn high in the earnings percentiles (even if there are, of course, people who make way more). This is what I found somewhat laughable about the whole BBC sexist pay scandal. Oh no, this poor woman is only getting £200,000 a year! What a hard life...

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 14

Observatory

What an amazing surprise she is paid a full 60% of a world famous TV-movie-intellectual star, when practically no one outside the British upper middle class has heard of her. Next you will tell me not every football player gets paid the same for the same job of playing football. Must be a massive evil conspiracy.

Reply 15

emmataco

How many shows on netflix does Sandi Toksvig have compared to Fry ?

What is her name recognition in america (which is how production companies make money by reselling shows) ?

Who has more twitter followers ? a key metric of marketability hint its 150k vs 12 million

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 16

Andrew97

Entertainment Forum Helper, Debate & Current Affairs Helper

New host is paid less than host who was hosting for 15 or so years. Not news.

Reply 17

El Salvador

A google search of Sandi Toksvig OBE comes with 347,000 results.

A google search of legendary gay icon, influential atheist, Emmy-winning, Golden Globe-nominated, former long-time BAFTA host, famed mental health activist, friend of HRH The Prince of Wales and Mr Bean, best-seller, movie star, QI host of 13 years Stephen Fry comes with more than 30 million results.

---

I agree. It's certainly an injustice. A grave injustice. With such a massive difference in both fame, popularity, influence, and relevance, that woman I do not know should get more like what 1% of what the man who has millions and millions of views on YouTube did, when she has yet to have any video cracking the million threshold.

Reply 18

El Salvador

Original post by Neilos

The Guardian and the likes certainly would, if it's a wopeople doing that, even when she's ineligible to be on the field (another great injustice, clearly).