Un-reality TV shows

[Jerome Stanek]

I've seen most of those shows pay about $20000 per person per episode

[Brian Elfert]

I would think the pay would vary based on the popularity of the show. There are families with a total of seven people and they certainly aren't paid $140,000 per episode.

I've read that 10% of the production cost is what the "cast" often receives. A show that features a business pays 5% because the business is getting a lot of publicity by being on the show. If a family gets $40,000 per episode does that means it costs $400,000 per episode to make an episode? That seems like a lot of money to follow a family with a camera crew, but I have read that the shows often pay for restaurant meals, vacation trips, and other activities that are filmed for TV. One family followed on TV said they would do a celebration at a restaurant on camera and then do a second celebration off camera.

[Jerome Stanek]

I would think the pay would vary based on the popularity of the show. There are families with a total of seven people and they certainly aren't paid $140,000 per episode.

I've read that 10% of the production cost is what the "cast" often receives. A show that features a business pays 5% because the business is getting a lot of publicity by being on the show. If a family gets $40,000 per episode does that means it costs $400,000 per episode to make an episode? That seems like a lot of money to follow a family with a camera crew, but I have read that the shows often pay for restaurant meals, vacation trips, and other activities that are filmed for TV. One family followed on TV said they would do a celebration at a restaurant on camera and then do a second celebration off camera.

How much do you think sitcom actors are paid. $400,000 is not even what one actor is paid per episode pus they have to pay for all the supporting people like makeup, sound camera men, writers and more.

[Doug Dawson]

How much do you think sitcom actors are paid. $400,000 is not even what one actor is paid per episode pus they have to pay for all the supporting people like makeup, sound camera men, writers and more.

Top people on top-rated broadcast shows might make that (think Seinfeld or Big Bang Theory.) Bryan Cranston made 225k per episode of Breaking Bad, and that was a major “basic cable” show, with a budget of a bit over 1million/episode. Streaming shows (the majority of what’s going now) are significantly tighter.

[Jim Becker]

One aspect of many of these shows, particularly the competition type reality shows, that sometimes gets missed in the public eye is the long delay from recording until airing the "final" episode. In many cases, the "common folks" featured had to leave jobs and their families for months during the recording of the episodes and then they go home. They are legally bound to not tell anyone what the outcome was (winnings held as hostage) and the winner's often do not get their prize money and other benefits until the airing of the final episode happened. One recent winner of a very popular cooking competition nearly lost their living accommodations for them and their teenage kid because they had no income for many months, having quit their jobs to compete, an limited opportunities for short-term work that paid enough. What they earned during taping was not enough to carry them through. So despite the glamor of competing, it was rough both emotionally, physically and financially.

[Bill Dufour]

The Movie "Galaxy Quest" is based on the idea that another planet sees a scifi tv show and believes it is a real unscripted documentry. They build their own spaceship based on the tv props and come to earth. In case you couldn't figure it out it is a comedy with Tim Allan.
'Bill D

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/

[Ole Anderson]

I read yesterday that the folks on Life Below Zero are paid $4500 per episode. Google seems to know what any television personality receives per episode.