The select circle of big earners in public broadcasting is expanding. Meanwhile, there are already eight screen faces and/or radio voices that earn more than 300,000 euros on an annual basis. Can full transparency silence the debate at Boulevard Reyer?
‘Wrang’, that is the word that is used most often when it comes to exclusivity contracts at VRT. The latest annual report shows that the number of contracts remains at nineteen, just like last year, but there is certainly an evolution in terms of their magnitude. In 2021 there were six high earners on the payroll who turned out to be worth more than 300,000 euros on an annual basis, meanwhile there are already eight. And that feels so bitter, says Carlos Van Hoeymissen of trade union VSOA. “We are in the middle of a major cost-cutting exercise with the public broadcaster. But apparently there is still budgetary room to find extra resources with regard to those exclusivity contracts.”
Katia Segers, who sits on behalf of Vooruit in the Media Committee of the Flemish Parliament, also finds the increased contracts difficult to reconcile with the cost-cutting exercise at Reyerslaan. Although she keeps a blow to the arm. “Last year, the CEO announced that the recipients of these conscious contracts should be more female, younger and more diverse. If the new figures are part of this exercise and, for example, a woman now also belongs to this absolute top, then there is something to be said for that.”
However, it is not possible to deduce from the annual report who the exclusive faces or voices are. It is also a guess as to the exact amount of the amounts. The VRT only communicates that eleven of those faces earn between 100,000 and 300,000 euros per year and that another eight exceed the latter amount. How much higher, we’re guessing. And let that be exactly what is happening in the media and on social media.
Immediately one of the reasons why Jonathan Hendrickx, postdoctoral researcher in journalistic studies at VUB, advocates a more transparent system. “When you publish the list of high earners every year, like the BBC in Britain, you don’t have that whole fuss around it.” However, it is not an option for the VRT. For privacy reasons, the public broadcaster does not put names on major contracts with us.
“Gary Lineker may also not like it that everyone knows that he earned 1.35 million pounds (1.57 million euros) last year,” says Hendrickx. “But that’s part of it when you start working at the BBC.” According to Hendrickx, the whole privacy argument is a bit shaky anyway. For example, the annual report states that VRT CEO Frederik Delaplace received exactly 288,201.62 euros in his account last year. “Why can’t you do the same for the screen faces?”
The Scandinavian countries also seem to like transparency. In Finland, Sweden and Norway you can easily request the tax information of compatriots. Which leads to lists of highest-earning television stars every year in these countries. Although we are also being asked for more transparency, this scenario is a bridge too far.
“We can discuss whether the information we are now receiving is sufficient,” says Marius Meremans, media specialist at N-VA. “But we shouldn’t just throw everything on the street. We don’t have that tradition.” We hear the same sound from the VRT unions. “We don’t need to know to a few decimal places how much everyone earns. But in terms of transparency, it can be more than a few figures in the annual report.”
Northern neighbors
The solution may be found with our northern neighbours. Since 2017, the beaming standard has also been used for screen faces and radio voices of the public broadcaster, which means that they may not earn more than the Dutch prime minister. That led to a wage ceiling of 216,000 euros last year. The intervention silenced the annual discussion about the (too) high wages of television stars in public broadcasting. But there is also little enthusiasm for this approach at VRT. “A public broadcaster that wants a wide reach needs strong triggers,” VRT CEO Delaplace told MPs last year. “And you have to pay a hefty price for that.”
A wage ceiling would make that impossible. With an exodus towards commercial competition and a plummeting market share as a result. Although that turned out to be quite the case in the Netherlands. “In recent years, big names such as Paul de Leeuw or Twan Huys have switched to commercials, but money was never the main reason,” says Angela de Jong, columnist and media journalist at the General Journal. “Eva Jinek is the only example I can think of where money was the driving force. He is also honest about that.”
Nevertheless, De Jong also understands VRT’s point of view. “With exceptional talents like Matthijs van Nieuwkerk (absolute top earner who was discredited and resigned last year, PD), Jeroen Pauw or Eva Jinek who are very important to your channel, it is a pity that you can only pay them 220,000 euros while they can easily earn a million with the competition. As a television producer, you have to believe very hard in the role of public broadcasting in order to stay.”
