Natalie Morales – $1 million
It was back in 2016 that Natalie Morales moved to LA where she went on to become the West Coast anchor for the Today Show. As well as working as the host of Access Hollywood Live and Access Hollywood, Natalie has continued to build a career for herself – and now takes home $1 million.
Natalie Morales
Hoda Kotb – $2 million
Incredibly, Hoda’s career started back in Egypt back in 1986, and the journalist has worked hard for the last few decades. Hoda now co-anchors on the Today Show where she contributes to the fourth hour’s entertainment slot. All of her work means that Hoda earns herself around $2 million a year.
Hoda Kotb
Kristine Leahy – $2 million
Kristine Leahy has worked with many shows over the years thanks to studying journalism at Boston University. She was the face of many broadcasts over the years, including the likes of Fox Sports’ The Herd and American Ninja Warrior. It’s believed Fox wanted more female voices in sport, earning Kristine $2 million.
Kristine Leahy
Christiane Amanpour – $2 million
Christiane Amanpour started out her career at CNN as a desk assistant back in 1983. Thankfully, she soon worked her way up the journalism ladder until she was promoted to their Chief International Anchor. As if that wasn’t enough, Christiane also earns her $2 million for her nightly interview show, Amanpour.
Christiane Amanpour
Sam Champion – $2 million
Over 25 years with the network, Sam Champion became one of the leading weather reporters for ABC. Sadly, the fan favorite left to manage The Weather Channel before moving on to NBC. Thankfully, Sam has since returned to ABC as a fill-in where he earns $2 million a year for his work.
Sam Champion
Lara Spencer – $3 million
Lara Spencer worked for The Insider and The Early Show for many years before she landed her big break on Good Morning America. She is now one of the leading faces of the show, and Lara’s $3 million a year paycheck is added to from her additional work as a correspondent for Nightline.
Lara Spencer
Billy Bush – $3 million
Being part of the presidential Bush family has given Billy Bush access to some huge names. The reporter was busy working for the Today Show where he earned $3 million until footage of Billy talking with the current President of the United States emerged in 2016, and he lost his role.
Billy Bush
Nancy O’Dell – $3 million
Nancy O’Dell was one of the leading faces of Access Hollywood for 13 years until she left the show in 2009. Thankfully, she soon landed a spot with Entertainment Tonight and has been there ever since. Her work now sees the TV reporter take home a tidy $3 million a year.
Nancy O’Dell
Abby Huntsman – $3 million
It was while working as an intern at Good Morning America that saw Abby Huntsman land her big break. It wasn’t long before the journalist was snapped up by Fox and Friends before she decided to turn her attention to The View instead. Now, Abby earns $3 million a year from her time on TV.
Abby Huntsman
Erin Burnett – $3 million
It seems as though Erin Burnett is used to appearing on TV thanks to her time on the likes of Morning Joe, Nightly News, and Squawk on the Street. However, the news anchor has now been handed her own show titled Erin Burnett OutFront, earning Erin $3 million a year.
Erin Burnett
Yanet Garcia – $3 million
It’s not just her time as a weather reporter that has earned Yanet Garcia $3 million a year; it turns out that she is a huge face on social media, too. Here, Yanet shares all her exercising tips before returning to our screens to update us on the weather each day.
Yanet Garcia
Terry Bradshaw – $4 million
Terry Bradshaw was a quarterback for many years before he retired from football in 1984. Thankfully, his time on the field meant the sports star had plenty of inside knowledge and has spent the last 25 years analyzing sports for Fox NFL Sunday – a role that earns Terry $4 million.
Terry Bradshaw
Lester Holt – $4.5 million
Lester Holt has been seen on various CBS shows over the years, but that all changed when he signed up to NBC. Here, the journalist was handed Dateline and Nightly News, and was officially made a leading anchor of the later in 2015. His promotion has helped Lester to earn $4.5 million.
Lester Holt
Joe Buck – $5 million
Although Joe Buck started his career by reporting on minor league baseball, Fox Sports were keen to hire him in 1994 to cover the professionals instead. The sportscaster now also reports on the National Football League where his expertise of sports sees Joe take home an impressive $5 million a year.
Joe Buck
Samantha Steele Ponder – $5 million
Samantha has built her career as a sportscaster for working with ESPN reporting their college basketball and football all the way up to hosting Sunday NFL Countdown for the network. Her dedication has paid off as Samantha earns $5 million, and met her husband, Christian Ponder, thanks to her work.
Samantha Ponder
Chris Matthews – $5 million
Chris Matthews’ knowledge of politics has seen him build quite the career for himself. The journalist started out working for the United States Capitol Police, but now focuses the majority of his time on his show Hardball with Chris Matthews. His show’s popularity means Chris earns $5 million a year.
Chris Matthews
Ann Curry – $5 million
This journalist has been at the frontlines of some of the most devastating stories over the years, including several natural disasters and wars. Although Ann Curry was with NBC News for almost a quarter of a century, she has since left to start her own multimedia platform.
Ann Curry
Maria Bartiromo – $6 million
Maria began her career working for CNN and CNBC before she surprised her fans and took a role at Fox News in 2013. Here, Maria has been handed several hosting positions and even became the first news reporter to do a live broadcast from the New York Stock Exchange floor.
Maria Bartiromo
Rachel Maddow – $7 million
It’s her open views and having no fear of reporting on the latest political news to hit the headlines that have seen Rachel Maddow become one of the nation’s favorite TV reporters. Now, Rachel hosts her own nightly series, The Rachel Maddow Show, where she earns $7 million a year.
Rachel Maddow
David Muir – $7 million
It took many years of work, but David’s dedication finally paid off in 2014 when the news anchor was asked to replace Diane Sawyer on ABC World News Tonight. His time as the host alongside his work as a co-anchor on 20/20 has helped David to earn $7 million.
David Muir
Al Roker – $8 million
Amazingly, Al Roker has been working with NBC for four decades where he has grown to become one of the most popular weather reporters. Here, he appears on the Today Show as well as Nightly News, and even broke the world record for reporting the weather for 34 hours without interruption.
Al Roker
Tom Brokaw – $8 million
Would you believe that Tom Brokaw is the only person to have hosted Meet the Press, Nightly News, and the Today Show? Although Tom now spends the majority of his time behind the cameras, the star still earns himself a tidy $8 million a year for his work.
Tom Brokaw
Brian Williams – $10 million
Brian Williams was once one of the leading faces of News Nightly until 2015. It turned out the journalist had misrepresented events from the 2003 Iraq War. However, Brian has since landed his own show with MSNBC titled The 11th Hour with Brian Williams where he earns $10 million.
Brian Williams
Jackie Guerrido – $10 million
Working as a journalist and meteorologist has seen Jackie Guerrido work her way up from the radio all the way to a spot with Primer Impacto on Univision. That’s not all. Jackie is also involved with several charities and makes $10 million a year thanks to her work.
Jackie Guerrido
Shepard Smith – $10 million
Shepard Smith has been with Fox News since the beginning, and it looks as though he is here to stay. Shepard has worked for many of their shows over the years but now earns his $10 million paycheck from serving as the chief anchor and editor of the breaking news division.
Shepard Smith
George Stephanopoulos – $10 million
Working alongside Bill Clinton throughout his campaign and time in the White House means that George Stephanopoulos is used to addressing the public. George now works on several shows, including ABC World News Night, This Week, and Good Morning America that all combine to earn him $10 million a year.
George Stephanopoulos
Anderson Cooper – $11 million
It looked as though Anderson Cooper was once destined to join the CIA. However, he decided to try his hand at journalism and hasn’t looked back. Anderson travels the nation to make sure he is always on the frontline for Anderson Cooper 360°, earning his $11 million paycheck in the process.
Anderson Cooper
Meredith Vieira – $11 million
It was working with the shows The View and Today that saw Meredith Vieira become a household name, but that wasn’t all. Meredith has also hosted Who Wants to be a Millionaire and now works as a contributor for Dateline, Nightly News, and Today where she earns $11 million.
Meredith Vieira
Diane Sawyer – $12 million
Diane Sawyer was once hired as a weather forecaster but decided it wasn’t the career of her dreams. Instead, she began to work toward becoming a TV reporter and now works as an anchor for Good Morning America and ABC World News where she earns $12 million.
Diane Sawyer
Barbara Walters – $12 million
ABC Evening News, The View, and Today have all been greeted to someone many consider to be the best TV reporter of our time: Barbara Walters. The star anchor also hosted her yearly 10 Most Fascinating People list and continues to take home $12 million for her work as a producer.
Barbara Walters
Robin Roberts – $14 million
Robin Roberts once worked as a local sports anchor in Mississippi before she was snapped up by ESPN. She worked as a sportscaster for many years until Robin was offered the role of news anchor on Good Morning America, a role that continues to earn her $14 million.
Robin Roberts
Wendy Williams – $15 million
Wendy Williams wasn’t always the talk show host we know today. In fact, she started her career as a radio host where her outspoken views caused quite the stir. Wendy has since landed her own talk show that brings her in around $15 million a year – as well as several awards.
Wendy Williams
Kelly Ripa – $16 million
Kelly might have started her career as an actress, but it wasn’t long before the star was looking for a different role in front of the camera. Now, Kelly is the leading co-host of Live! with Kelly and Ryan where she works alongside Ryan Seacrest and earns $16 million a year.
Kelly Ripa
Julie Chen – $16 million
Julie Chen has worked hard to earn herself her $16 million a year paycheck. The star was once the co-anchor of CBS’s The Early Show as well as appearing on The Talk for eight seasons. That’s not all. Julie is also the longest-serving Big Brother host for any of the series.
Julie Chen
Michael Strahan – $17 million
Being a former football star meant that Michael Strahan had a lot of professional insight and has put his knowledge to good use since landing roles with Fox NFL Sunday, ABC’s Strahan and Sara, and Good Morning America. Being a sports analyst now earns Michael an impressive $17 million.
Michael Strahan
Bill O’Reilly – $20 million
Bill O’Reilly was one of the few to be there for the beginning of Fox News, and it wasn’t long before he earned his own show, The O’Reilly Factor. The series was once earning Bill $20 million until several investigations into his personal life saw his contract terminated with the network in 2017.
Bill O’Reilly
Jon Stewart – $25 million
While he might not be the most conventional of all TV reporters, Jon Stewart was able to bag himself a $25 million a year paycheck thanks to his comedy skills and political knowledge. Jon hosted The Daily Show for 16 years before waving farewell to his desk in 2015.
Jon Stewart
Matt Lauer – $28 million
Matt was once at the peak of his career – and taking home a whopping $28 million for his work. The news anchor was seen on the likes of the Today show and Dateline, and even hosted many Olympic Games ceremonies until several allegations saw him hang up his reporting belt in 2017.
Matt Lauer
Sean Hannity – $29 million
It seems as though Sean Hannity is determined to conquer all aspects of entertainment as he not only works as a news anchor but Sean has also released several books and hosts his own radio show, The Sean Hannity Show, too. Perhaps that’s how he earns $29 million a year?
Sean Hannity
Jim Rome – $30 million
Although it seems as though Jim Rome has built quite the career for himself on the radio, the star has also become a prominent face on our TVs, too. Jim has worked with the likes of ESPN and CBS over the years and now earns a staggering $30 million a year.
Jim Rome
