Sofia Vergara named highest paid female actor on TV

The star of Modern Family and entertainment impresario earned $37m, almost three times as much as her nearest rival

For the third consecutive year, Colombian actress Sofia Vergara, one of the stars of Modern Family, has topped Forbess list of the highest paid female actors on US television, with estimated earnings of $37m.

Vergara earns $325,000 for each episode of the ABC comedy. As in the previous year, her closest rival was Mariska Hargitay, the Emmy-winning star of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, who earned $13m. Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, 28, of The Big Bang Theory, came in third, with $11m.