Ashton Kutcher (Photo : Colcci)

Ashton Kutcher comes out on top of Forbes' List of Highest paid TV actors in an annual survey conducted by the business magazine.

After Aston Kutcher replaced Charlie Sheen in the popular sit-com "Two and A Half Men", the actor not only regained his popularity but bagged the top position on Forbes' List of Highest Paid TV Actors.

According to the survey, Kutcher earned $24 million from May 2011 to May 2012, while Sheen, now starring in "Anger Management" on cable television following a very public firing from the hit CBS show, didn't even make the top 10.

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Earnings runners-up included "House" star Hugh Laurie and Ray Romano of now-canceled "Men of a Certain Age," with $18 million each. Other highly compensated actors in the top 10 list included Emmy winner Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock," "Last Man Standing" star Tim Allen, "Men" co-star.

Earlier in August, it was announced that Oprah Winfrey who may not have her talk show - the Oprah Winfrey Show bringing in the big bucks still makes enough money to top the list of Forbes Highest Paid Celebrities. Winfrey has held on to the top position of this list for the fourth time in a row.

"Although the show ended it was still in reruns, so she still got some money from it," Forbes' Los Angeles bureau chief, Dorothy Pomerantz said. "Most of her money is now coming from the rest of her empire, which includes shows by Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and Rachel Ray, and a lucrative radio deal. She'll still continue to make a lot of money, but without the syndicated show, she'll take a big hit," Pomerantz said.

Michael Bay came a close second, trailing Winfrey by only 5 million. According to the magazine most of his income comes from Transformers: Dark of the Moon,

"Some of the money from every Bumblebee sale is going into Michael Bay's pocket," she said.

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg came in at No. 3 with earnings of $130 million thanks mostly to the two films he directed, "The Adventures of Tintin" and "War Horse."

"Spielberg is a 'perennial' toward the top of our list," Pomerantz said.