How do game shows get all this money to giveaway?
In: Other
TLDR: They sell ads. The commercials played during the show pays for everything plus profit.
Compared to the cost of filming the show, the facilities, and paying the staff the prize money is fairly negligible.
Contestants aren’t paid by the appearance, only if they win a prize which reduces costs.
Drew Carey reportedly makes anywhere from $9 to $12.5 million per year hosting The Price is Right.
The total value of all prizes in a given in a year on Price is Right is between 10 and 15 million, while the Average winnings per episode is $76,920 (as per a quick Google).
Many of the prizes are donated to the shows as part of the advertising budget of the manufacturer.
For cash prize shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Deal or No Deal, the prizes don’t pay out the maximum every episode. The advertising for the shows pays for everything, prize money and salaries alike.
They get their money the same way all other TV shows get their money. They get their money by selling air time for commercials.
The main difference between game shows and other shows is that games shows give the money to the contestants. Other shows will spend that money on actors, a larger team of writers and directors, increased set design, post-production, etc. As a result, game shows are often cheaper to produce.
I think most of the prizes are donated for the publicity.
Cash prizes, got to figure it’s something similar.
Also they make but loads of money on the shit ton of commercials they make you watch.
They get it from the network. It’s part of the budget of the show.
Scripted shows have writers, actors, multiple sets, special effects, etc. that all add to the expense of the show. Game shows are a single set, small main cast (hosts,) have less writing, and an easy to produce format. So on the whole, game shows are much cheaper to make than scripted shows, so they can afford to spend some production money on prizes.
For shows with high value prizes, the show might have insurance for the large prizes
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/prize-indemnity-insurance.asp
Some of it they never get, like the million dollar big prize, a show can actually get an insurance company to sell them a policy, the show pays the premiums and if someone wins the insurance company pays it.
I won a bunch of stuff on the Price is Right, the car I know for sure was given by Mazda. It’s cheap and free advertising.
“all this money”
The contestants aren’t getting paid dick compared to what the actors on TV shows are getting paid. Successful game shows are saving the networks a ton of money.
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