Top Earning Stars On TV

DRAMA (per episode)
Hugh Laurie (House) — $400,000+
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU) — $395,000
Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) — $395,000
David Caruso (CSI: Miami) — $375,000
Marg Helgenberger (CSI) — $375,000
Mark Harmon (NCIS) — $375,000
Laurence Fishburne (CSI) — $350,000
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) — $350,000
Denis Leary (Rescue Me) — $350,000
Gary Sinise (CSI: NY) — $275,000
Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy) — $250,000
David Boreanaz (Bones) — $200,000
Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) — $200,000
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) — $175,000
Dana Delany (Body of Proof) — $150,000
Lauren Graham (Parenthood) — $150,000
Jada Pinkett Smith (HawthoRNe) — $150,000
Jimmy Smits (Outlaw) — $150,000
LL Cool J (NCIS: Los Angeles) — $125,000
Chris O’Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles) — $125,000
Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds) — $125,000
Tom Selleck (Blue Bloods) — $125,000
Michael Weatherly (NCIS) — $125,000
Matt Bomer (White Collar) — $100,000
Nathan Fillion (Castle) — $100,000
Thomas Gibson (Criminal Minds) — $100,000
Jon Hamm (Mad Men) — $100,000
Cole Hauser (Chase) — $100,000
Alex O’Loughlin (Hawaii Five-O) — $100,000
Timothy Olyphant (Justified) — $100,000
Scott Caan (Hawaii Five-O) — $80,000
Angie Harmon (Rizzoli & Isles) — $75,000
Anna Paquin (True Blood) — $75,000
Blair Underwood (The Event) — $75,000
Zachary Levi (Chuck) — $60,000
Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) — $40,000

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COMEDY (per episode)
Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men) — $1.25 million
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) — $550,000
Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives) — $400,000
Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) — $400,000
Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) — $400,000
Eva Longoria Parker (Desperate Housewives) — $400,000
Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons) — $400,000
Julie Kavner (The Simpsons) — $400,000
Tina Fey (30 Rock) — $350,000
Jeremy Piven (Entourage) — $350,000
Steve Carell (The Office) — $297,000
Angus T. Jones (Two and a Half Men) — $250,000
David Duchovny (Californication) — $200,000
Kevin Dillon (Entourage) — $200,000
Adrian Grenier (Entourage) — $200,000
Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) — $180,000
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) — $175,000
William Shatner ($#*! My Dad Says) — $150,000
David Spade (Rules of Engagement) — $150,000
Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) — $100,000
Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement) — $85,000
Betty White (Hot in Cleveland) — $75,000
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) — $60,000
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) — $60,000
Ty Burrell (Modern Family) — $50,000
Jane Lynch (Glee) — $50,000
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) — $40,000
Matthew Morrison (Glee) — $30,000
Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) — $30,000
Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) — $20,000
Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) — $20,000
Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family) — $15,000

LATE NIGHT/TALK SYNDICATION (per year)
Oprah Winfrey — $315 million
Judge Judy Sheindlin — $45 million
David Letterman (The Late Show) — $28 million
Jay Leno (The Tonight Show) — $25 million
Conan O’Brien (The Conan O’Brien Show) — $10 million
Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) — $8 million
Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live) — $6 million
Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately) — $3.5 million
George Lopez (Lopez Tonight) — $3.5 million

REALITY (per year)
Ryan Seacrest (American Idol) — $15 million
Joel McHale (The Soup) — $2 million
Piers Morgan (America’s Got Talent) — $2 million
Kate Gosselin — $250,000 per episode
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi (Jersey Shore) — $30,000 per episode

NEWS (per year)
Matt Lauer (Today) — $16 million +
Katie Couric (CBS) — $15 million
Brian Williams (NBC) — $12.5 million
Diane Sawyer (ABC) — $12 million
Meredith Vieira (Today) — $11 million
Bill O’Reilly (Fox News) — $10 million
George Stephanopoulos (ABC) — $8 million
Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) — $7 million
Shepard Smith (Fox News) — $7 million
Wolf Blitzer (CNN) — $3 million
Christiane Amanpour (ABC) — $2 million
Eliot Spitzer (CNN) — $500,000