FremantleMedia in the U.K. pays its male employees on average 32 percent more than its female employees, a gender pay gap that rises to 84 percent if bonuses are included.
The company, producer of such television shows as American Idol, The X Factor and The Young Pope, published the figures Friday as part of new regulations requiring British companies to report disparities in pay according to gender. The BBC in January published similar figures, showing an average 10.7 percent gap between male and female employees.
The numbers at Fremantle only include employees working at FremantleMedia U.K., FremantleMedia Kids & Family, and FremantleMedia International. Fremantle employees outside the U.K. or employees at the company’s parent FremantleMedia Group, which is not covered by the new regulations because it employs fewer than 250 people in Britain, were not included.
Among the women executives not included in figures is FremantleMedia CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz, who works for FremantleMedia Group and who was recently hired by YouTube to head up its European operations. Fremantle pointed out that if FremantleMedia Group’s employees were included, the gender pay gap in the U.K. would fall to 16 percent and the bonus gap to 54 percent.
The median pay gap at FremantleMedia in the U.K. — the difference between women earners in the middle of the total range of hourly rates compared to male employees in the middle of the range — is actually 9 percent in favor of female workers.
“These issues are not unique either to us or to our industry,” said Nicky Gray, human resources director for FremantleMedia Group. “We therefore need to be realistic about the time and collective effort it will take to bridge the gap. … Onscreen and off, at all levels and in all parts of the business, diversity and inclusion matter — and we are committed to playing our part.”
Hundreds of British companies and organizations, ranging from car maker Rolls Royce to the British Armed Forces, have so far published their gender pay gap figures ahead of the law’s April 6 deadline. The average U.K. pay gap is 17.4 percent in favor of men. The median pay gap is 18.4 percent. At public broadcaster the BBC, the average pay gap in 2017 was 10.7 percent.
