Oprah Winfrey easily TV's top earner

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey dominated her top TV rivals during the last year, accounting for $260 million of the overall $723 million such stars earned.

Forbes magazine reported that while the combined earnings of the Forbes TV 20 reached $723 million between June 2006 and June 2007, Winfrey easily took the list's top spot by earning more than a third of that total.

Directly behind Winfrey, who also appeared on the Forbes 400 list of the Richest Americans, was comedian Jerry Seinfeld with $60 million overall.

While Seinfeld garnered most of his earnings from "Seinfeld" residuals, Simon Cowell was third on the TV list thanks to his current blockbuster "American Idol."

Cowell's $45 million edged out late night TV mainstay David Letterman, who earned $40 million during the same year.

Forbes said the list's top five was rounded out by real estate mogul Donald Trump, whose foray into television with "The Apprentice" helped net him $32 million.