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http://www.tvguide.com/News/Top-TV-Earners-1021717.aspx
Aug 10, 2010 09:55 PM ET by Stephen Battaglio
Hugh Laurie, Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Sheen
If you're an actor who lands a lead role on a TV series, you can count on a big payday. But it won't be as big as it used to be.
Network and studio executives tell TV Guide Magazine they've adopted a get-tough policy on salaries for stars of the new fall shows. While the salary for a lead has been $150,000 to $200,000 per episode in recent years, most deals for stars of new series were between $75,000 and $125,000. "No one broke the bank on anything this year," says one former studio head.
A case in point is a negotiation with a veteran film actor who for years has been coveted by several networks to do series TV. He was in discussions for a lead role in one of the new dramas that made the fall schedule. His asking price was $250,000. The network and the studio said no way. When the actor refused to go below $200,000, the network and studio moved on and hired someone else.
Why the hard line? The broadcast networks have been in a cost-cutting mode since ad revenues were hard-hit by the recession. While the ad market is recovering, they are also coping with a changing long-term financial picture as DVR playback and online viewing have greatly diminished the ratings on the second network run of shows, once the source of windfall profits.
There is an effort to keep talent costs down on their veteran hits as well. ABC's Brothers & Sisters, which once had four actors earning $150,000 or more per episode, will lose Rob Lowe and have only 18 episodes next season instead of the typical 22. Some regulars will appear in fewer episodes. Marg Helgenberger's new deal with CSI also calls for her to have a lighter workload next season and helps to trim the show's budget in the face of declining ratings.
Check out TV veterans returning in new shows this fall
If a show is on the rise, it's a different story. The stars of The Big Bang Theory—Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco—all currently make well under $100,000 per episode. Their bank accounts are about to benefit from the show's rise to the top of Nielsen rankings among viewers in the 18 to 49 age group and a successful sale into syndication. "I think they'll give an extra year to their studio, Warner Bros., in exchange for each of them getting $150,000 to $200,000 an episode," says one network executive. "They'll get bumps from there and could get up to $300,000 an episode. If it's a hit show, you start paying."
Additional reporting by William Keck and Michael Schneider
The top earners, by category:
Drama (per episode)
Hugh Laurie (House) $400,000+ Christopher Meloni & Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU) $395,000 (each) David Caruso (CSI: Miami) $375,000 Marg Helgenberger (CSI) $375,000 Mark Harmon (NCIS) $375,000 Laurence Fishburne (CSI) $350,000 Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) $350,000 Denis Leary (Rescue Me) $350,000 Gary Sinise (CSI: NY ) $275,000 Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy) $250,000 David Boreanaz (Bones) $200,000 Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) $200,000 Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife ) $175,000 Dana Delany (Body of Proof ) $150,000 Lauren Graham (Parenthood) $150,000 Jada Pinkett Smith (HawthoRNe) $150,000 Jimmy Smits (Outlaw) $150,000 LL Cool J (NCIS: Los Angeles) $125,000 Chris O'Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles) $125,000 Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains) $125,000 Jason Lee (Memphis Beat) $125,000 Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds) $125,000 Tom Selleck (Blue Bloods) $125,000 Michael Weatherly (NCIS) $125,000 Matt Bomer (White Collar) $100,000 Nathan Fillion (Castle) $100,000 Thomas Gibson (Criminal Minds) $100,000 Jon Hamm (Mad Men) $100,000 Cole Hauser (Chase) $100,000 Alex O'Loughlin (Hawaii Five-0) $100,000 Timothy Olyphant (Justified ) $100,000 Scott Caan (Hawaii Five-0) $80,000 Angie Harmon (Rizzoli & Isles) $75,000 Anna Paquin (True Blood) $75,000 Blair Underwood (The Event) $75,000 Zachary Levi (Chuck) $60,000 Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) $40,000 Shailene Woodley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) $40,000 Ashley Tisdale (Hellcats) $30,000
Late Night/Talk Syndication (per year)
Oprah Winfrey $315 million Judge Judy Sheindlin $45 million David Letterman (The Late Show) $28 million Jay Leno (The Tonight Show) $25 million Conan O'Brien (The Conan O'Brien Show) $10 million Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) $8 million Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live) $6 million Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately) $3.5 million George Lopez (Lopez Tonight) $3.5 million
Reality (per year)
Ryan Seacrest (American Idol) $15 million Joel McHale (The Soup) $2 million Piers Morgan (America's Got Talent) $2 million Kate Gosselin (Kate Plus 8) $250,000 per episode Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi (Jersey Shore) $30,000 per episode
Comedy (per episode)
Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men) $1.25 million Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) $550,000 Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives) $400,000 Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) $400,000 Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) $400,000 Eva Longoria Parker (Desperate Housewives) $400,000 Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons) $400,000 Julie Kavner (The Simpsons) $400,000 Tina Fey (30 Rock) $350,000 Jeremy Piven (Entourage) $350,000 Steve Carell (The Office) $297,000 Angus T. Jones (Two and a Half Men) $250,000 David Duchovny (Californication) $200,000 Kevin Dillon (Entourage) $200,000 Adrian Grenier (Entourage) $200,000 Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) $180,000 Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) $175,000 William Shatner ($#*! My Dad Says) $150,000 David Spade (Rules of Engagement) $150,000 Ed O'Neill (Modern Family) $100,000 Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement) $85,000 Betty White (Hot in Cleveland) $75,000 Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) $60,000 Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) $60,000 Ty Burrell (Modern Family) $50,000 Jane Lynch (Glee) $50,000 Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) $40,000 Matthew Morrison (Glee) $30,000 Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) $30,000 Dylan and Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) $20,000 (each) Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family) $15,000
News (per year)
Matt Lauer (Today) $16 million + Katie Couric (CBS) $15 million Brian Williams (NBC) $12.5 million Diane Sawyer (ABC) $12 million Meredith Vieira (Today) $11 million Bill O'Reilly (Fox News) $10 million George Stephanopoulos (ABC) $8 million Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) $7 million Shepard Smith (Fox News) $7 million Wolf Blitzer (CNN) $3 million Christiane Amanpour (ABC) $2 million Lawrence O'Donnell (MSNBC) $2 million Eliot Spitzer (CNN) $500,000
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