THE chief executives behind Heart FM and Virgin Radio accused the BBC yesterday of “distorting the market” with high salaries for star presenters.

Salaries for celebrities such as Terry Wogan, who is reported to be paid £800,000, could not be matched by commercial rivals, they said.

Andrew Flanagan, chief executive of SMG, the owner of Virgin Radio, said the BBC’s defence that the salaries were a response to market forces was “disingenuous”. He added that the BBC was a “price-setter” and “the commercial sector, in the face of difficult advertising markets, struggles to match it”.

Richard Huntingford, chief executive of Chrysalis, the owner of London’s Heart 106.2, said questions had to be raised over whether this was the best use of the licence fee and consistent with the BBC’s remit.

He wondered whether the BBC should instead be putting these funds into developing “new, next-generation talent”.

He said: “They are distorting the market — pushing up the cost of talent for commercial broadcasters who, unfortunately, don’t have the luxury of a guaranteed, inflation-proofed income stream — the licence fee . . . Is this really what the BBC is about?”

Mr Flanagan added: “It is outrageous that the BBC should try to justify an above-inflation licence fee increase on the back of this fiction.”

However, John Myers, the head of Guardian Media Group’s radio division, which has Smooth FM among its radio assets, said that, although he did not agree with everything at the BBC, its radio stations were “not comparable” with commercial stations.

Mr Myers said that the BBC had a greater geographical reach and could offer presenters a “crossover” on television and radio. He did not think Wogan was paid too much.

There have been leaks surrounding Radio 1 and 2 DJs, with Wogan reportedly Radio 2’s highest earner on an £800,000 salary and Radio 1’s Chris Moyles apparently earning £630,000.

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