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Sofia Vergara of 鈥淢odern Family鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory鈥� actress Kaley Cuoco are two of the highest-paid actresses on TV, according to a recent Forbes report that also illustrated that the differences between pay for men and women on TV aren鈥檛 as stark as that for movies.

Ms. Vergara has topped Forbes's list for five years in a row, with Forbes estimating she earned $43 million this year. Ms. Cuoco came in second, with Forbes stating she earned more than $24 million this year. Continuing down the list are Mindy Kaling of Hulu鈥檚 鈥淭he Mindy Project,鈥� earning $15 million, while 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy鈥� actress Ellen Pompeo and Mariska Hargitay of 鈥淟aw & Order: SVU鈥� tied for fourth.聽

When Forbes released their list of the highest-paid movie actors and actresses in Hollywood, they renewed the long-running discussion over the difference in pay between male and female movie stars. They said that Jennifer Lawrence, the highest-earning actress this year, earned $46 million, while Dwayne Johnson, the highest-earning actor, took in $64.5 million.聽

The difference isn鈥檛 as glaring in the TV world, notes聽. 鈥淲hile Hollywood has a lot of work to do to close the gender wage gap between actors and actresses, it鈥檚 not as severe in TV as in the film industry,鈥� Ms. Berg writes.

Why? 鈥淚n part, this is because ensemble casts generally negotiate their salaries together. Vergara, for example, has the same 'Modern Family' paycheck as Ty Burrell and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Cuoco makes the same amount from 鈥楤ig Bang Theory鈥� as Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki,鈥� she writes.聽

The NBC smash hit sitcom 鈥淔riends鈥� changed the industry when the six-member cast teamed up to ask for higher pay. 鈥淭he stars 鈥� David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc 鈥� have demanded salary increases to about $100,000 each per episode, plus a percentage of the series' profits in syndication,鈥� wrote in 1996.

鈥淭he salaries each made this year were not equal," he continued. "Some were in the $20,000 range per episode while others were considerably higher.鈥� Stars of hit shows often threaten to boycott their series in pursuit of higher salaries. What is unusual is this cast's effort to use its solidarity as leverage.鈥�

Today, Berg notes that the TV method of equal payment isn鈥檛 a perfect one. For example, both 鈥淏ig鈥� and 鈥淔amily鈥� have large casts, yet 鈥渢here aren鈥檛 nearly enough of these balanced ensemble casts,鈥� she writes. 鈥淎cross broadcast, cable and streaming, 58% of series regulars are males, according to the Annenberg Report on Diversity in Entertainment. And the percentages of speaking female characters are only 36.4%, 37.3% and 38.1%, across broadcast, cable and streaming, respectively. Speaking roles, which obviously require more work, are rewarded with higher salaries, and the imbalance enforces the gender wage gap.鈥�