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Los Angeles - Ashton Kutcher has been revealed as the highest paid sitcom actor in America, despite only having filmed his first episode of Two and a Half Men.
The 33-year-old actor - who replaced Charlie Sheen in the show after he was fired from his role as Charlie Harper - earns $700 000 per episode and while it is considerably less than Charlie's $1.2m, Ashton makes more than his closest competitors.
British actor Hugh Laurie is the best paid actor in a TV drama, also raking in $700 000 per episode for his role as grumpy doctor Gregory House in House.
Other high earners include Mariska Hargitay, who is paid $395 000 per Law & Order: SVU episode, Jersey Shore star Snooki who is paid $100 000 per show and Blake Lively, who makes $60 000 for each Gossip Girl episode.
Meanwhile, Simon Cowell is reportedly earning $75m for his work on the US X Factor.
The media mogul - who will launch the US version of his reality TV show late in 2011 - will reportedly pocket $75m per season on the programme, including his fee as producer, far surpassing that of his fellow judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul, who will take home $1.5m and $2.5m respectively.
TV Guide magazine has not released the earnings of fourth panelist LA Reid.
The figures also showed how well paid many US talk show hosts are, with David Letterman ($28m), Kelly Ripa ($20m) and Jay Leno ($25m) among the highest earners, trailed by Conan O'Brien ($10m) and CNN journalist Anderson Cooper ($11m).
The 33-year-old actor - who replaced Charlie Sheen in the show after he was fired from his role as Charlie Harper - earns $700 000 per episode and while it is considerably less than Charlie's $1.2m, Ashton makes more than his closest competitors.
British actor Hugh Laurie is the best paid actor in a TV drama, also raking in $700 000 per episode for his role as grumpy doctor Gregory House in House.
Other high earners include Mariska Hargitay, who is paid $395 000 per Law & Order: SVU episode, Jersey Shore star Snooki who is paid $100 000 per show and Blake Lively, who makes $60 000 for each Gossip Girl episode.
Meanwhile, Simon Cowell is reportedly earning $75m for his work on the US X Factor.
The media mogul - who will launch the US version of his reality TV show late in 2011 - will reportedly pocket $75m per season on the programme, including his fee as producer, far surpassing that of his fellow judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul, who will take home $1.5m and $2.5m respectively.
TV Guide magazine has not released the earnings of fourth panelist LA Reid.
The figures also showed how well paid many US talk show hosts are, with David Letterman ($28m), Kelly Ripa ($20m) and Jay Leno ($25m) among the highest earners, trailed by Conan O'Brien ($10m) and CNN journalist Anderson Cooper ($11m).
