The low to no cost of reality TV "talent" is still the primary reason there is so much of it. It is also why Paris Hilton's most recent reality venture a year or so ago was cancelled mid-episode, something I only previously experienced with Richard Simmons' failed talk show Dreammakers, the difference being Simmons' show was cancelled between commercial breaks in production, while Hilton's show was so low-rated the network decided not to finish airing the second episode. At the half-hour mark of the one-hour series, they switched to another program entirely and received not a single complaint. Hilton's contract was allegedly drafted so that she received more money for episodes aired as opposed to episodes produced. Fairly certain her agent got fired over that loophole.
Idol was beloved by Fox executives because the aspiring singers took no pay and the original judges had no salary expectations beyond Simon who served as producer (and Seacrest would host a Klan rally for $20 and a shot at the craft service table). Two other notes related to reality TV. At my delightful convenience store where I am officially Dante Hicks, they have placed a selection of DVDs of the show "Duck Dynasty" at the cash register. As a result, I now have as many conversations about that piece of crap as I do discussing the weather. Most reality TV annoys me on principle, but I can ignore it by not watching it. However, I now loathe and despise the Duck Dynasty people with the same level of hate normally reserved for Baldwins or current SNL cast members. On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 11:30 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > The online entertainment sites are reporting that Jennifer Lopez will be > back to judge AI this season (see for example: > http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/08/20/jennifer-lopez-american-idol/). While > this has been rumored much of the summer, I am a little surprised, as I had > been convinced by the argument that one of AI's problems was blowing > mega-millions on older skewing judges. Last year they spent about $44M on > judges salaries (according to > http://www.wetpaint.com/american-idol/articles/how-much-money-do-the-american-idol-judges-earn-find-out-now- > Carey: $18M, Minaj: $12M, Urban: $4M, while this source estimates Jackson > made $10M per season: > http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/randy-jackson-net-worth/ > ). > > Lopez was making $20M when she was on AI. She may have agreed to somewhat > less for what must be the easiest gig in the music industry (in terms of > the amount of energy exerted per audience member reached) but hard to see > her taking it for much less than Carey's $18M. They are going with a > three-judge panel, so I guess if they can get a third judge for about the > same as Urban, and pay them each something like $5M, then they are in for > $28M, which right there saves them $16M. > > I don't care that much about this program, but I am interested in the > economics of television these days. Whether it is late night talk show > hosts, network news anchors or judges on singing competition shows, the > value of big salaried names for attracting higher ratings is interesting. > > -- > -- > 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 > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
