The BBC has reduced its star pay by £9.5m, spending just over £203m in the last financial year on salaries for its presenters and "talent".
The BBC's annual report revealed 16 individuals were paid more than £500,000 in the financial year 2011 - 2012, three less than the year before.
Director general Mark Thompson earned £622,000 in the last financial year - down from £779,000 in 2010-11.
He earned 15 times more than the median pay of a BBC employee.
The total combined salaries of the BBC's executive directors fell from £5,714,000 in 2010-11 to £2,560,000, largely due to the number of board members being reduced from 13 to seven.
The annual report also looked at the BBC's production. Drama output across BBC television fell by 156 hours, although there was a significant increase in drama on BBC radio - up 419 hours.
Entertainment programmes increased by 470 hours, while the same genre also went up on radio by 568 hours.
Factual content on TV increased by 307 hours, while music and arts fell by 90 hours.
Televised sports decreased by 389 hours and there were 602 hours less of sports coverage on BBC radio.
