‘The Big “Bank” Theory’ – How much are they making and how CBS can Afford it! DAYM!
Fans of The Big Bang Theory can breathe a sigh of relief. Warner Bros. Television has been able to secure deals with the actors to keep the show on air. PHEW!
Production was actually delayed while the shows three heavy hitters: Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki worked things out. The total impact to production will be about a one week delay. Parsons, Cuoco and Galecki decided that they would play hardball. They decided that they would not return to work until they secured a deal, leaving CBS and the show’s producers no choice but to move quickly.
The casts contracts ended after last season and were never renewed. This was a bad move for CBS because it allowed the cast to hold them hostage against an aggressive production schedule. In efforts to maintain a full season of 24 episodes a deal had to be made quickly leaving very little room for negotiation. In the end – some pockets got really fat!! [more…]
HOW FAT? HOW MUCH ARE THE BIG BANG CAST MEMBERS GETTING PAID?
Jim Parsons Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki went into negotiations as a packaged deal and they emerged with a huge bump in pay. Where they previously earned $325,000 per episode, they will now be earning $1 Meeellion dollars.
This is what we call the “Friends-zone”. (The Friends cast ended up sticking NBC for $10 million per episode during it’s 10th season). They will also get a chunk of the shows back-end.
Before you break that $1 million dollars down into $2 million per hour (because each episode is ½ hour long), realize that it takes about three weeks to make one end product that is 30 minutes long.
HOW CAN THEY AFFORD TO PAY THAT MUCH?
Simply because the Big Bang Theory has been killing the ratings. They have been the NO. 1 comedy among total viewers since the 2010-2011 season. Season 7 brought in an average of 19.2 million viewers and a 5.6 rating among advertisers most desirable age range of 18-49.
That all translates into boo-hoo bucks! For a 30 second spot Big Bang has been charging North of $316,000. Here is how it stacks up:
On broadcast television there are 13:32 minutes of commercials. If you estimate that 10 minutes of that would be used for non-CBS ad spots you can be looking at roughly $6.3 Million dollars earned per episode. After salaries and production cost, that’s a nice little take for CBS.
CBS HAD NO BACK UP PLAN
Despite everything CBS did not have a back up plan, if a deal was not reached they were basically screwed. They just lost “How I Met your Mother” and were planning on using “Big Bang” to launch a new hour long drama “Scorpion” so securing a deal was essential.
Chuck Loree, the shows creator and executive producer was super confident that a deal was going to happen. He told the press,
There are people at Warner Brothers Television and people representing the actors who have done this before,This will work itself out. I think it’s great; I want them all to be crazy wealthy because nobody deserves it more than this cast. It’ll work out.”
AND THE BIGGEST PAY DAY GOES TO…..
If they are making that much I wonder how much Chuck Lorre is pulling down. If it gives you any indication his net worth is $600 million. I’m sure with a net worth like that…I’d be super confident about a lot of things.
source(s): Adweek, Adweek, HollywoodReporter
