Viacom-Owned Channel 5 Puts Rivals To Shame With Gender Pay Gap Statistics

Viacom-owned UK broadcaster Channel 5 has put its rival networks to shame when it comes to gender pay with women making on average 2.85% more than men. This comes after the U.S. media conglomerate became the latest entertainment business in the UK to report its statistics ahead of the government-set April 5 deadline.

The broadcaster, which airs shows such as Big Brother and U.S. comedy Will and Grace, had a mean difference of 2.85% in favor of women, although its median was 2% in favor of men. This is in stark contrast to its rivals including Channel 4, which had a mean gender pay gap of 28.6%, ITV, which had a gap of 16.4%, Sky, which had a 11.5% and the BBC, which reported a gap of 10.7%. The national average is a mean gap of 17.4% and a median gap of 18.4%. However, male employees at Channel 5, which include Director of Programmes Ben Frow, received median annual bonus payments 22.5% higher than their female counterparts.

Elsewhere, at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), which includes the centralized functions of the UK operation as well as employees at its international distribution division, had a mean gender pay gap of 11.7% in favor of men, with a median gap of 13.7%.

Channel 5 and VIMN were the only two Viacom-owned divisions required to report as both have more than 250 employees. However, the MTV owner did report the figures across its other operations. Overall, it had a 2.8% mean gender pay gap and a median gap of 9% with a gender bonus hap of 33% on a mean basis and 22.5% on a median basis. Its Viacom subsidiaries, which include Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, as well as a number of other functions had a 7.6% mean gap in favor of women and a 9% median gap in favor of men.

James Currell, President, VIMN UK, Northern and Eastern Europe, said that it was benchmarking its pay grades across its UK workforce to ensure consistent levels and was continuing to make progress towards eradicating any differences between what it pays its male and female employees. “Our performance compares well with the national average, but we still have areas of marked imbalance, particularly on bonuses. We are evolving our employment practices with a view to eradicating our gender pay gap over time – making further progress against this objective will be a key performance indicator for our senior management team in 2018 and beyond,” he added.