# How much do TV shows cost to produce?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-shows-cost-to-produce/438589>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 21, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-shows-cost-to-produce/438589 "2008-02-21T17:06:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-shows-cost-to-produce/438589/1 "2008-02-21T17:06:17Z")

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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.

\*\*\* Ponder

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-shows-cost-to-produce/438589/2 "2008-02-21T17:50:44Z")

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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.