Ricki Lake started out her career in acting, when she landed the role of Tracy Turnblad in the movie ‘Hairspray’. She had many other acting positions when she was younger, but she became a talk show host in the early 90s.
‘The Ricki Lake Show’ debuted in 1993, and she was introduced as the youngest talk show host on television, with her only being 24 years old at the time. She has received an Emmy for being an outstanding talk show host. She ended her contract with the show in 2004 in order to spend more time with her family. After her show, she did smaller projects, like being a game show host for CBS’s ‘Gameshow Marathon’, which was unfortunately short-lived.
Matt Lauer – $28m
Matt Lauer is one of the most recognized names in the broadcasting business. He started his TV career as a producer of the noon newscast for WOWK-TV in West Virginia and later, as an on-air reporter for the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts. He then hosted several weekly information and talk programs around the country. In the course of time, Lauer’s hosting experiences and on-camera presence took him to NBC’s national news organization while still working for WNBC. He filled in on The Today Show for Margaret Larson when needed, which gave him the opportunity to join The Today Show in 1994 as its news anchor and eventually as a co-host from 1997 to 2017.
Lauer was also a contributor for Dateline NBC and was a host for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of many Olympic Games. Lauer has interviewed several big names in entertainment, politics, and sports. He was well-liked by viewers; however, in 2017, his contract was terminated by NBC due to sexual misconduct allegations.
Don Lemon – $125k
Don Lemon is an American television journalist most commonly known for being a news anchor for CNN. On this channel, he hosts the program called “CNN Tonight.” During his early days of news anchoring, he had positions anchoring for small local stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania. Other gigs that led to his position at CNN included being a correspondent for “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.” Lemon has been awarded 3 regional Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Award.
Besides broadcasting, Don Lemon wrote a memoir in 2011 called “Transparent.” In the memoir, he openly came out as gay, making him one of the few gay black men in the television reporting industry.
Kate Snow – $200k
Kate Snow is best known for being an American television journalist for NBC News. But, many people don't know that she is actually the Senior National Correspondent for all NBC platforms, including MSNBC, Dateline, NBC Nightly News, and TODAY. She is responsible for anchoring the Sunday editions of NBC Nightly News, and she substitutes for other weekday episodes as well.
Before dedicating her broadcast career to NBC, she was a co-anchor for 'Good Morning America' on the weekends. She had this position from 2004 to 2010. She also had her own program on NBC, called “MSNBC Live with Kate Snow.”
Jake Tapper – $1M
Jake is the Chief Washington Correspondent for CNN. He hosts the weekday television news show called 'The Lead with Jake Tapper', which won three National Headliner Awards for its reporting in 2013. He also hosts CNN’s political news show, called 'State of the Union with Jake Tapper'. But, Jake Tapper is not only a reporter. He also has experience being an author and a cartoonist.
Jake Tapper has won many awards for his work as a television reporter. In 2017, he won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Also in 2017, Tapper received the John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.