15/02/2008

A former Grampian TV presenter and reporter is joining Natasha Kaplinsky on Five's news programme, being launched on Monday.

Isla Traquair joined Grampian TV seven years ago after a five-year reporting stint on the Press and Journal. She has spent the past two years working for ITN in London.

Her new role will keep her in London. She said: “It’s a great move. It’s good timing to be part of the relaunch. At Channel Five I will have a similar role to which I had at ITN - a mix of reporting and presenting.”

Kaplinsky joined Five from the BBC amid a blaze of publicity over her £1 million-a-year contract.

Earlier this week, Kaplinsky admitted her pay deal was “ridiculously” high.

This has prompted the Scottish Daily Mail to carry a feature examining the approximate earnings of TV personalities per minute, based on their work commitments over a year. Natasha's 15,500 minutes per year means she is earning around £74 per minute.

Others on the list include: Ant and Dec (£5426 per minute), Simon Cowell (£3475), Chris Tarrant (£2016), Davina McCall (£1190), Gordon Ramsay (£925), Carol Vorderman (£888), Jonathan Ross (£769), Anne Robinson (£272), Trevor MacDonald (£100), Jeremy Paxman (£90), and Terry Wogan (£34).


* Send your Scottish media news and gossip, in the strictest confidence, to  info@allmediascotland.com