Ross' salary for BAFTAs prompts outrage

LONDON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A review of talent costs has been ordered in response to TV star Jonathan Ross's hefty salary for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards show.

After agreeing to pay the British TV presenter nearly $210,000 to host the annual awards show, BBC executives have been criticized by one of their own in regard to their part in stars' growing salaries, The Mail on Sunday reported.

BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons has commissioned a talent cost review that will determine whether the British broadcaster directly contributes to inflated salaries for stars such as Ross.

Ross is currently signed with the BBC through a three-year contract reportedly worth more than $36.5 million.

The newspaper reported that Lyons has previously opposed offering stars inflated salaries that could disrupt the entire entertainment industry by unfairly raising talent costs.

"It is important that the BBC does not use the privilege of a guaranteed income to overbid for talent," he said during an earlier TV industry speech, "thereby raising costs for the industry as a whole and reducing the value delivered to license-fee payers."