How much do TV presenters and valets earn?

Periodically the earnings of celebs raise more or less sensible fuss: among the most recent the (not very sensible) related to Andrea Bocelli, “Guilty” of having asked for 125 thousand euros to interpret just two songs, including the national anthem, before the last match of the ATP Finals in Turin; the Italian Tennis Federation has deemed the request beyond its availability and so on the last day of the tournament the two finalists will be the protagonists of the sporting spectacle.

The figures awarded to TV personalities cause a stir, yes, but as viewers we often don’t take into consideration the immense work that these mammoth machines conceal. Let’s think, for example, of the face of the show, the conductor who, beyond his notoriety, takes on a job that isn’t worthless. It is enough to reflect only on the emotional-psychological pressure that the conduct of a TV program can entail, even more if live. Great skills are needed to manage the characters involved, the timing (very tight), as well as the ability to keep the pace of the transmission always at a certain level.

How much do the hosts earn for all this work? On the general television networks, undoubtedly very much. Perhaps the most emblematic case is represented by Sanremo Festival, the flagship event of Rai. The budget for the Festival is around twenty million euros, of which about half a million in the latest editions goes to the conductor: Baglioni’s cachet was even close to 600 thousand euros and a similar figure is presumed to have been awarded to Amadeus. For co-management, the figures are smaller, but still considerable: Fiorello in 2021 he would have received € 50,000 per evening, for a total of € 250,000. It drops to half, 25 thousand, for the valleys present a single evening of the Festival, such as Elodie e Diletta Leotta.

At Mediaset, the figures are less transparent, since it is a private broadcaster. However, in the past few years Italy Today released some figures on how much the main conductors of Canale5, Rete4 and Italia1 earn. The cachet of Paolo Bonolis which would be close to 10 million euros per year and a similar amount would be received by Gerry Scotti, the most continuous face in the early evening (and not only) of the main network. The cachet of is also around 10 million Maria De Filippi, host of some of the most popular programs, including Men and women, You’ve Got Mail, Friends e You are worth it. Barbara d’urso in the years in which it led Afternoon 5, Domenica Live, Big Brother e Live-It’s not D’Urso it would have approached six million; a considerable figure, but in the face of a conspicuous presence in different time slots. It follows Ezio Greggio whose management of Strip the News it would have earned him an annual salary from Mediaset of about 5,750,000 euros per year.

The Big Brother VIP is another program that brings considerable ratings to the Cologno Monzese broadcaster. Some rumors circulated in past years suggested that for the conduct of the reality show, Ilary Blasi received 50 thousand euros for each live broadcast. If confirmed, presumably even Alfonso Signorini could wander around similar figures.

Then there is a category of rather young television personalities, the chefs: here, the transition from the stove to the television studios is undoubtedly quite profitable. In the case of Carlo Cracco, for example, it appears that the role of judge for Masterchef may be worth 400 thousand euros for a season.

On the other hand, the salaries of the judges of the Italian edition of X Factor, unlike the English one. It seems, in fact, that Simon Cowell, who in addition to being a judge has also co-conceived X Factor UK, bring home a dizzying cachet: about 95 million dollars since 2017.

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