On average, how much does an episode of a typical network TV show cost to produce?
I’d hazard a guess that it probably varies by type of show, so I’m interested in these types:
primetime-quality drama
primetime-quality science fiction or fantasy drama
half-hour sitcom
‘afternoon’ or non-primetime-quality drama
weekly soap opera
daily soap opera
talk show
“reality” show
If someone could provide a link to a site that compiles this kind of information for currently produced shows, that would be great.
Mods, if you feel this would be better suited to GQ, please move as appropriate.
The budget for a primetime one-hour drama can get as high as $5 million an episode, but typically they’re less. Law & Order episodes typically go for around $3 million these days, while fancier stuff like Lost or 24 will cost more. There’s also star salaries – the longer a show’s been on with the same people, the more you have to pay them.
Network sitcoms can range from fairly cheap (quarter million or less per episode) to very expensive for long-running superstars. For example, the last few years of Seinfeld, the four principles were each earning a salary of more than $1 million per episode (not including residuals for reruns and DVDs, etc.) So that’s at least $4 million per episode before any production costs. Of course, Seinfeld also sold advertising for more than $1 million a minute towards the end of its run.
Daytime soaps and talk shows are pretty cheap, except for stuff like Oprah where the star is big enough to command a large salary. Soaps tend to be shot on video and avoid location shooting at all costs, so production is pretty cheap, and they have an endless supply of D-list actors and newcomers who don’t get paid a lot. I don’t have any hard numbers for you though.