THE publicly funded BBC was forced to publish the names and salaries of its highest-earning actors and presenters Wednesday, unleashing a national debate in Britain about fame, gender, race and the use of taxpayers’ money.

The list shows that the BBC pays 96 on-air personalities at least 150,000 pounds (US$195,000) a year — more than Britain’s prime minister. The broadcaster’s best-paid star, radio host Chris Evans, earns more than 2.2 million pounds.

The BBC was compelled by Britain’s government to publish the salaries of on-air talent, which had previously been secret. The information is sensitive because the BBC is funded directly by taxpayers, through a 147-pound annual levy on every household that owns a television or watches the BBC online.

The salaries were published in bands, rather than as exact figures. Evans, who fronts a daily radio breakfast show, gets between 2.2 million pounds and 2.25 million pounds. “Match of the Day” soccer host Gary Lineker receives between 1.75 million pounds and 1.8 million pounds, while talk-show host Graham Norton is paid between 850,000 pounds and 900,000 pounds.

Several stars of soap opera “EastEnders” appeared on the list, which also revealed that actor Peter Capaldi earns more than 200,000 pounds a year as the star of sci-fi series “Doctor Who.”

The figures expose a gender pay gap at the top of the BBC. Two-thirds of the top earners are men, and the highest-paid woman — “Strictly Come Dancing” host Claudia Winkleman — earns less than a quarter of Evans’ salary. News anchor Huw Edwards is paid over 550,000 pounds, some 200,000 pounds more than Fiona Bruce, who does much the same job.

The highest earners are also largely white. No ethnic-minority star is paid more than 300,000 pounds a year.

The disclosures, as anticipated, also prompted criticism over the size of the salaries in general.

BBC chief Tony Hall said the list showed “the need to go further and faster on issues of gender and diversity,” but defended the high salaries.

“The BBC does not exist in a market on its own where it can set the market rates,” he said. “If we are to give the public what they want, then we have to pay for those great presenters and stars.” For instance, he said that the man who makes US$2.8 million “is presenting the most popular show on the most popular radio network in Europe.”

Meanwhile, there’s a conspicuous gap between the highest-paid and lowest-paid employees within the BBC. As The Guardian reports, a union representing the lowest-paid production staff is fighting for a minimum salary of US$26,000. As of last year, the average salary at the BBC was 43,000 pounds, the Telegraph reported.

The list doesn’t include BBC talent paid by outside production companies. That may explain the absence of big-name stars including nature presenter David Attenborough and “Top Gear” host Matt LeBlanc.

Conservative lawmaker John Whittingdale, who brought in the disclosure requirement when he was Culture Secretary, said taxpayers deserved to know who at the BBC was earning high salaries “and reach a judgment for themselves of whether that is good value for money.”

But others argued the information would erode public support for the BBC — and likely drive salaries up, as BBC staff who aren’t on the list demand raises.

Steven Barnett, professor of communications at the University of Westminster, argued that the disclosure drive had “nothing to do with transparency.”

“I think this was a deliberate campaign to undermine and destabilize an institution that some self-interested parties would like to see weakened,” he said, pointing to some politicians and executives at the BBC’s privately owned rivals.

The BBC provides a wide range of news, music and entertainment shows for TV and radio. It has enormous reach — to the tune of 96.5 percent of the British population on an average week, according to 2015 data.

The public broadcaster is primarily funded by a license tax on households with TVs, a system that has frequently been attacked by conservative politicians in the U.K. Failure to pay the fee is a crime. (SD-Agencies)