Who Are TV's Top Earners?

Her nearest rival, earnings-wise, is late-night talk show host David Letterman, with a hefty $28 million annually as the host of "The Late Show with David Letterman."

As for primetime's top earner, the crown goes to "Two and Half Men's" Charlie Sheen. "Extra" talked with TV Guide's Business Editor, Stephen Battaglio, who said Sheen makes $1.25 million per episode.

Even with these high salaries, the television business is hurting overall. "Ratings for shows are just not as high as they used to be," Battaglio told "Extra." "And that's hitting the pocketbook of the actors."

Network and studio executives are getting tougher on salary demands of stars in the new fall shows. The salary for a lead used to be between $150,000 and $200,000 per episode, but the new deals are ranging from $75,000 to $125,000.

Here's the list of the top earners, by category:

Late Night/Talk Syndication (per year)

Oprah Winfrey $315 million
Judge Judy Sheindlin $45 million
David Letterman ("The Late Show") $28 million
Jay Leno ("The Tonight Show") $25 million
Conan O'Brien ("The Conan O'Brien Show") $10 million
Ellen DeGeneres ("The Ellen DeGeneres Show") $8 million
Jimmy Kimmel ("Jimmy Kimmel Live") $6 million
Chelsea Handler ("Chelsea Lately") $3.5 million
George Lopez ("Lopez Tonight") $3.5 million

Comedy Top 10 (per episode)

Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men") $1.25 million
Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men") $550,000
Marcia Cross ("Desperate Housewives") $400,000
Teri Hatcher ("Desperate Housewives") $400,000
Felicity Huffman ("Desperate Housewives") $400,000
Eva Longoria Parker ("Desperate Housewives") $400,000
Dan Castellaneta ("The Simpsons") $400,000
Julie Kavner ("The Simpsons") $400,000
Tina Fey ("30 Rock") $350,000
Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") $350,000

Drama's Top 10 (per episode)

Hugh Laurie ("House") $400,000+
Christopher Meloni & Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU") $395,000 (each)
David Caruso ("CSI: Miami") $375,000
Marg Helgenberger ("CSI") $375,000
Mark Harmon ("NCIS") $375,000
Laurence Fishburne ("CSI") $350,000
Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") $350,000
Denis Leary ("Rescue Me") $350,000
Gary Sinise ("CSI: NY") $275,000
Patrick Dempsey ("Grey's Anatomy") $250,000

Reality (per year)

Ryan Seacrest ("American Idol") $15 million
Joel McHale ("The Soup") $2 million
Piers Morgan ("America's Got Talent") $2 million
Kate Gosselin ("Kate Plus 8") $250,000 per episode
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi ("Jersey Shore") $30,000 per episode

News Top 10 (per year)