Chatshow host Graham Norton’s TV pay rose by just over €1 million to £3.025 million (€3.384 million) in 2021, according to his company’s latest accounts. ITV subsidiary, So Television, sells the Graham Norton Show to the BBC and to TV stations across the world including Virgin Media in the Republic.
Accounts filed by So Television to Companies House in the UK show that Norton’s pay increased by £956,638 (€1.07 million), or 46 per cent, from £2.069 million to £3.025 million in 2021.
His pay – made up of presenter fees, production fees and royalties – rebounded after it was cut by £1.166 million in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
So Television relies on the Graham Norton Show for the bulk of its revenues and in 2021, those increased by £1.3 million or 11 per cent from £11.39 million to £12.7 million.
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In a note with the accounts, the directors said that sales increased due largely to distribution rising.
The firm increased revenues despite producing two fewer hours of TV in 2021 – 29 compared to 31 in 2020.
The accounts said there was a £900,000 increase in distribution revenue as the company returned to normal production.
“The Graham Norton Show continues to be popular in the UK and internationally,” the note said.
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The company increased its pretax profits by 18 per cent to £2.82 million despite the hike in pay to its star performer.
Norton’s TV fees are the entertainer’s main income stream. He receives separate fees for his Saturday and Sunday morning shows on Virgin Radio UK, however.
In December 2020, Norton left BBC Radio 2 after 10 years to present the Virgin shows.
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Norton’s novels are also best sellers and his critically acclaimed works of fiction – Holding, Home Stretch, A Keeper and Forever Home – have generated millions in sales in Ireland and the UK since 2016 according to Nielsen Book, though the author receives only a small fraction of the sales figure in royalties.
A breakdown of So Television’s 2021 revenues show that £9.38 million was generated in the UK while £3.3 million was generated in the “the rest of the world”.
Norton’s show continues to be the go-to show for Hollywood “A listers” and singers promoting their movies and albums in the UK and Europe. During the latest season, Norton has played host to Tom Hanks, Kate Winslet, Margot Robbie, Daniel Craig, Bono, Taylor Swift and Paul Mescal.
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Norton and producer of the Graham Norton show, Graham Stuart, sold So Television to ITV in 2012 with ITV agreeing to pay the two £10 million up front while a further £7 million was payable depending on its performance up to July 2016.
Born in Dublin and raised in Bandon, Co Cork, Norton first shot to prominence in 1996 playing Father Noel Furlong in Father Ted before he moved to Channel 4 to host his own chatshow.
Norton established So Television Ltd with Graham Stuart in 2000. Numbers employed by the company last year remained at 21 and staff costs increased marginally to £2 million.
Accumulated profits at So Television in December 2021 totalled £23.54 million.
