Eli5: How do TV shows like Total Wipeout or Euphoria etc make a profit?

Question

Not necessarily reality just TV shows like Total Wipeout, but TV shows in general.

I saw that Zendaya gets paid 1 mill USD per episode to be in Euphoria, which is INSANE. How do the creators of these shows make a profit? Where exactly is the income coming from?

In: 5

Answer 1

1 million for an actor is fine when the episode is worth 10 million.
In ads, sales, licensing, whatever it is. They’re not gonna keep making a show that is a loss.

Iirc the simpsons cast made 1M per actor, and shows like Game of Thrones are also up there.

Those shows make way more than their actors cost, even if they’re outrageous for any other standard.

Edit: there’s a movie called Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds. Half the budget went to the actor, iirc.