# Why do movies cost so much more than TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-movies-cost-so-much-more-than-tv/610901 "2012-01-27T20:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-movies-cost-so-much-more-than-tv/610901/21 "2012-01-30T18:58:12Z")
Another reason why TV actors are paid less, aside from the lower prestige, is that the negotiating can be done in bulk. A typical TV season is about 20 hours, a typical movie is about 2. But it costs less than ten times as much to buy 20 hours of acting as it does to buy 2 hours. Especially since the contracts (at least for the first season) are negotiated before you can tell if the show is going to be a hit. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-movies-cost-so-much-more-than-tv/610901/22 "2012-01-30T19:37:10Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Television actors are often not paid as well as movie actors. > > _Battlestar_ only costs $1.5M/episode, but in the last two seasons of _Friends_, the principal actors were paid $1M/episode each. Even that (which is a lot), is much less than A-list movie stars get for being the lead in a film. A lot less if you consider an episode the equivalent of a movie. If you look at the whole season, say 26 episodes, $26 million is up there in the A-list. ETA: When you add in rerun residuals, it can get way up there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-movies-cost-so-much-more-than-tv/610901.md?page=1)