Simon Cowell will earn $75 million for his work on the US `X Factor`

The media mogul - who will launch the US version of his reality TV show later this year - will reportedly pocket $75 million 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 $1.5 million and $2.5 million respectively, though TV Guide magazine has not released the earnings of fourth panellist LA Reid.

Meanwhile, Ashton Kutcher has been revealed as the highest paid sitcom actor in America, despite only filming his first episode of `Two and a Half Men` last Friday (05.08.11).

The 33-year-old actor - who replaced Charlie Sheen in the show after he was fired from his role as Charlie Harper earlier this year - earns $700,000 an episode and while it is considerably less than Charlie`s $1.2 million, Ashton makes more than his closest competitors.

British actor Hugh Laurie is the best paid actor in a TV drama, making $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.

The figures also showed how well paid many US talk show hosts are, with David Letterman ($28 million), Kelly Ripa ($20 million) Jay Leno ($25 million) among the highest earners, trailed by Conan O`Brien ($10 million) and CNN journalist Anderson Cooper ($11 million).

sections: Celebrities