Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest Are Top-Earning Men in Primetime TV

It pays to be on American Idol. Just ask Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest, who earned more money than any other celebrity in primetime television over a one-year span.

Cowell ranks first on Forbes magazine’s list of “Primetime TV’s Top-Earning Men,” having collected $80 million from June 1, 2009 to June 1 of this year. Cowell’s fortune comes not only from his work on American Idol, which he left earlier this year, but also from his involvement in other series, such as America’s Got Talent and Britain’s The X Factor.

Similarly, Seacrest was a busy man when he wasn’t hosting American Idol. The emcee, who places second on Forbes’ list with $51 million, also hosts a Los Angeles-based radio show and is a producer of such TV programs as E!’s reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Forbes notes that the 10 top-earning men in primetime TV collectively received $308 million over the one-year time period, while the 10 top-earning women only received $162 million.

Here are the top-earning men in primetime TV, according to Forbes, along with their earnings for the year ending June 1, 2010:

1. Simon Cowell, American Idol, $80 million
2. Ryan Seacrest, American Idol, $51 million
3. Donald Trump, The Apprentice, $50 million
4. Steve Carell, The Office, $34 million
5. Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men, $30 million
6. Kiefer Sutherland, 24, $20 million
7. Laurence Fishburne, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, $12 million
8. Patrick Dempsey, Grey’s Anatomy, $11 million
9. Hugh Laurie, House, $10 million
10. Chris Meloni, Law & Order: SVU, $9.5 million

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