The likes of Jonathan Ross and Chris Moyles are not receiving salaries above the market rate, according to a review of how the BBC pays its top names.
The report, commissioned by the corporation's governing body, the BBC Trust, says in some cases stars get paid less than they would elsewhere.
The top 30 to 40 stars across all TV and radio each earn more than £1m a year, the report added.
But it said the BBC should "walk away" from stars who are too expensive.
The BBC should use its position to drive prices down, the report stated.
'Difficult position'
The review was commissioned after some salary details were leaked to the press, including a three-year deal for Jonathan Ross reportedly worth £18m.
Other figures suggested that Jeremy Paxman was paid £940,000 a year and Radio 2's Sir Terry Wogan got £800,000 a year, while Radio 1 breakfast host Chris Moyles took home £630,000.
The Trust found that the top 10 earners in TV and radio can take home earn more than £2m.
The BBC has a list of its top 50 "named talent", the report stated, whose earnings are rising "significantly faster than the recent 6% annual rate for total talent spending".
Sir Michael Lyons speaks on BBC Breakfast
In 2006/7, the BBC made an investment of about £242m in on screen and on air talent which represented around 5.6% of its total licence fee expenditure.
The vast majority of its 200,000 talent contract payments were for less than £1000.
But the trust's report found that there was "no evidence that the BBC is paying more than the market price" for its top names.
However, it does note that the salaries paid "to a small number of top talent working in network radio are much higher than those offered on commercial radio".