DO YOU go for One, Two, Three, Four or Five? I'm a Four man myself, although I like a bit of Two on the side. There are countless other permutations, but anything with adverts is too much for me.

Perhaps it is the intimacy of radio that does it. One minute you are listening to music, chat or whatever, and the next an idiot advert is banging away at your eardrums.

The trouble with commercial radio lies in the commercials. Adverts don't bother me on television, although it is fun to be irritated by them, but on radio they are too much to take. So I stick to the BBC stations and, as my ears are not yet digital, that leaves me with the five national stations, plus the local one.

BBC radio has been making headlines in the national press recently because someone on the inside has been spilling the salary secrets of its radio stars.

Last week, the Sun newspaper revealed what BBC Radio 1 pays its leading lights. Top of the pile was Chris Moyles, who earns £630,000 a year for his morning show, which is some £600,000 more than a reasonably handsomely paid member of society. There is obviously a lot of money to be made in having a big mouth.

Jo Whiley and Sara Cox earn £250,000 and £200,000 apiece, which is considerably less, but hardly likely to see them worrying about their weekly shop.

The sneaking at wage slips has now turned to BBC Radio 2. A malcontent mole at the corporation has been telling the Daily Mirror newspaper what the station's stars earn. Top of the pile by some way is Terry Wogan, who must sit upon an extremely large wallet as he is said to be paid £800,000 a year.

At least the terminally loquacious Terry has to get up every morning and get his mouth moving in order to earn his sky-high salary. Jonathan Ross is rumoured to pick up £530,000 for one three-hour show a week, which works out at the equivalent of £25.64 a minute. And, apparently, this is what Ross earns for his radio show alone, with his television work earning him even more (as yet undisclosed).

Just imagine, a year of being Jonathan Ross and most of us could retire.

I don't have anything against Ross, indeed, I like his radio programme and enjoy his late-night chat show on television, especially when he is being flamboyantly irreverent. But is he really worth so much public money?

As in other areas of life, there are disparities at Radio 2. The resurrected Chris Evans is said to be earning £540,000 as the new presenter of the Drivetime show, Steve Wright earns £440,000, while station stalwart Ken Bruce picks up a "mere" £194,000 a year to present his daily show.

By chance, these disclosures about super-rich radio mouths came about at the same time as we discovered that GPs can earn as much as a quarter of a million pounds a year, according to a survey by medical accountants.

Such a large pay packet for the family GP will make many people queasy, especially at a time when the NHS seems to be skidding towards financial catastrophe. It should be said that very few GPs will be so richly rewarded, although even the quoted average salary of £95,000 will still stir envy among those of us who have to toil for a few years to earn that much.

It is always easy to feel aggrieved about the extremely well off (footballers are the usual suspects, paraded before us for public anger/ridicule). Comparisons mean little, although it is worth taking a minute out to wonder if Terry Wogan is worth eight GPs (on the average wage).

As a supporter of the BBC licence fee, which strikes me as good value, I will admit to unease about the sky-high salaries being paid to radio presenters. And it's certainly right that we should all be told just how much of the licence fee these extravagantly remunerated nattering heads are getting.

Updated: 10:32 Thursday, April 20, 2006