LITTLE ROCK — The Los Angeles Times looked at a select group of top stars and determined a ranking based on annual salary (determined from agency sources and reported figures) divided by the average ratings from the most recent season or quarter.
Name / Show / Salary (in millions) / Ratings (in millions) / Pay-per viewer
Chelsea Handler / Chelsea Lately / $12 / 0.718 / $16.70
Anderson Cooper / 360 (CNN show only) / $6 / 0.443 / $13.54
David Letterman / Late Show / $31 / 3.2 / $9.69
Jon Stewart / Daily Show / $14 / 1.7 / $8.24
Bill O’Reilly / O’Reilly Factor / $16 / 2.8 / $5.71
Craig Ferguson / Late Late Show / $8.5 / 1.5 / $5.67
Matt Lauer / Today / $25 / 4.6 / $5.43 /
Judith Sheindlin / Judge Judy / $45 / 9 / $5
Piers Morgan / Piers Morgan Tonight / $2 / 0.49 / $4.08
Maury Povich / Maury / $13 / 3.2 / $4.06
Stephen Colbert / Colbert Report / $4.5 / 1.2 / $3.75
Jimmy Kimmel / Jimmy Kimmel Live / $6 / 1.8 / $3.33
Simon Cowell / The X Factor / $40 / 12.6 / $3.17
Ellen DeGeneres / Ellen / $5 / 2.9 / $1.72
Tyra Banks / America’s Next Top Model / $4 / 2.4 / $1.67
Tina Fey / 30 Rock / $7.2 / 4.6 / $1.57
Mehmet Oz / Dr. Oz / $4 / 3.3 / $1.21
Ashton Kutcher / Two and a Half Men / $17 / 14.7 / $1.16
Ryan Seacrest / American Idol / $15 / 20 / $0.75
Jennifer Lopez / American Idol / $12.5 / 20 / $0.63
Ted Danson / CSI / $5 / 12.6 / $0.40
Christina Aguilera / The Voice / $2.1 / 12.7 / $0.17
“Snooki” Polizzi / Jersey Shore / $1.2 / 7.6 / $0.16
Ty Burrell / Modern Family / $1.1 / 13.3 / $0.08
Sources: Nielsen (TV ratings); agency and talent management sources, reported figures (salaries).
Style, Pages 32 on 07/24/2012