Friday, October 05, 2007

Oprah's pulling in over $700K a day

OPRAH still makes a boatload of money — more like a cruise shipload. The Queen of Daytime reeled in $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007, a new Forbes.com salary survey shows.That's more than $700,000 a day.Winfrey accumulated cash from her daytime show, her satellite radio program, women's service magazine and the Broadway show The Color Purple, which she produced. She also has stakes in Dr. Phil McGraw's and Rachael Ray's syndicated shows.Meanwhile, she's producing two reality-TV programs, a move that's sure to help her maintain her stronghold in the industry.No surprise, Winfrey proteges McGraw and Ray appear on the list, at No. 7 and No. 13, respectively.Jerry Seinfeld, who pulled in $60 million in the same period from sales of reruns of his hit show, standup gigs and commercial endorsements, is No. 2.The list includes other usual suspects such as Regis Philbin, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Matt Lauer and Donald Trump, who continues to make money hand over hair with The Apprentice.Along with Winfrey, the ladies proved they're an entertainment force to be reckoned with. Today co-anchor and former View member Meredith Vieira nabbed the No. 20 slot with $10 million; Diane Sawyer is No. 19 with $12 million; Barbara Walters, also with $12 million, is No. 18.Additionally, Ellen DeGeneres, with the help of her daytime show and American Express paychecks, earned $15 million. Katie Couric left the Today show for the CBS Evening News and earned $15 million for her troubles.And still going strong, Judge Judy Sheindlin is paid $30 million.American Idol boss Simon Cowell comes in at No. 3 with $45 million thanks to his reality juggernaut which includes Idol, America's Got Talent and Celebrity Duets.