BBC pay: Male presenters could face wage cut
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The BBC's most highly paid male presenters could be asked to accept lower wages as the corporation tries to close the gender pay gap.
The BBC has defended high salaries which were revealed in its annual report on Wednesday.
The corporation has pledged to achieve equality between men and women on air by 2020.
BBC director of radio and education James Purnell said pay cuts were part of the solution.
He told the BBC's Newsnight programme: "Quite a lot of men have been taking pay cuts; John Humphrys said that today on air."
Asked if he expected more male, on-air talent to take a pay cut, he responded: "I'm not going to start negotiating live on air, but that's clearly one of the levers we can pull, and we have been doing that."
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said stars should be conscious "how this looks in public", while Labour MP Harriet Harman said there was "clearly discrimination" at the BBC.
BBC director general Tony Hall has said there is "more to do" on the gender pay gap.
The top seven earners, in the list of the BBC's 96 best-paid stars, were all male.
It is the first time the pay of stars earning more than £150,000 has been made public.
The BBC was compelled to make public the information under the terms of its new Royal Charter.
Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans was the top-paid star on between £2.2m and £2.25m, the BBC's 2016-17 annual report revealed.
Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman was the highest-paid female, earning between £450,000 and £500,000.
The One Show's Alex Jones was second, earning between £400,000 and £450,000.
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