The AOL piece used both rep and spokesperson in the piece. What Kevin says makes sense, so I'm guessing somebody was being sloppy (writer or editor).
In those little adverts for show tickets that run late in the show, they run an email address with oca in it, so I'm guessing they're the company handling things. ________________________________ From: Kevin M. <[email protected]> On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 10:30 PM, David Bruggeman <[email protected]> wrote: > AOL followed up on the Radar piece with the show. The spokesperson > estimated they might spend at most $200 on audience members if there are > empty seats that they want to fill. > > http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/02/26/did-craig-ferguson-ditch-audience-to-save-money-rep-calls-charge-laughable/ To be clear, while the anonymous "rep" (slightly different than a spokesperson) cited a number, there is no way of verifying it. OCA won't give out that info, and it is doubtful anyone at CBS would, either. About the only shows I'm aware of in Hollywood that don't use some form of paid audiences are "The Tonight Show" and "The Price is Right." Maybe that has changed in recent years, but I doubt it (I can't believe Wanda Sykes can fill her studio with an unpaid audience when MadTV was never able to). If it isn't OCA, then another company called Audiences Unlimited is filling the seats. A decade ago, the only sitcom that wasn't using paid audience members was "Seinfeld." There are "fundraiser" groups, usually college kids or soccer moms -- that sort of thing, that earn money for their respective causes by attending show tapings. They are the desired paid audience members, but they are only a fraction of them. Walk out front of Groman's Chinese Theater. The guys peddling tickets earn commission for every seat they fill. In those instances, the tourists who use those tickets are also paid audience members, but (as is often the case in Hollywood), their Hollywood pimp gets the money. Again, only a fraction of the paid audience comes from that group. Mostly, you have unemployed people who like getting $20 a day under the table, or elderly people with nothing better to do. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
