BIG BANG THEORY renewed for another three years

For those people who think the stars of TBBT are earning a lot of money for $24m a year for the next three years, here is a short list of celebrities who earn more than $24m last year (from all sources). Obviously Dr Dre sold his company.

Age Name Earnings Category
20 Miley Cyrus $36 M Musicians
20 Justin Bieber $80 M Musicians
23 Jennifer Lawrence $34 M Actresses
24 Avicii $28 M Musicians
24 Taylor Swift $64 M Musicians
25 Kevin Durant $32 M Athletes
26 Rihanna $48 M Musicians
27 Novak Djokovic $33 M Athletes
27 Lionel Messi $65 M Athletes
28 Lady Gaga $33 M Musicians
28 Rafael Nadal $45 M Athletes
28 Bruno Mars $60 M Musicians
29 Katy Perry $40 M Musicians
29 LeBron James $72 M Athletes
29 Cristiano Ronaldo $80 M Athletes
30 Calvin Harris $66 M Musicians
32 Dwyane Wade $30 M Athletes
32 Roger Federer $55 M Athletes
32 Beyonce Knowles $115 M Musicians
33 Kim Kardashian $28 M Personalities
33 Justin Timberlake $57 M Musicians
34 Gisele Bundchen $47 M Models
35 Kobe Bryant $62 M Athletes
36 Ashton Kutcher $26 M Television
37 Kanye West $30 M Musicians
37 Floyd Mayweather $105 M Athletes
38 Peyton Manning $27 M Athletes
38 Tiger Woods $61 M Athletes
39 Leonardo DiCaprio $39 M Actors
39 Bradley Cooper $46 M Actors
39 Ryan Seacrest $65 M Personalities
40 Seth MacFarlane $35 M Directors/Producers
41 Ben Affleck $35 M Actors
42 Sofia Vergara $37 M Television
42 Dwayne Johnson $52 M Actors
43 Mark Wahlberg $32 M Actors
44 Phil Mickelson $54 M Athletes
44 Sean Diddy $60 M Musicians
44 Jay-Z $60 M Musicians
44 Tyler Perry $70 M Directors/Producers
45 Jennifer Aniston $31 M Actresses
45 Will Smith $32 M Actors
45 Jennifer Lopez $37 M Musicians
46 Kenny Chesney $44 M Musicians
47 Vin Diesel $25 M Actors
47 Gordon Ramsay $47 M Personalities
48 J.J. Abrams $28 M Directors/Producers
49 Michael Bay $66 M Directors/Producers
49 Robert Downey $75 M Actors
49 Dr. Dre $620 M Musicians
50 Dan Brown $28 M Authors
50 Joss Whedon $32 M Directors/Producers
50 Sandra Bullock $51 M Actresses
50 Glenn Beck $90 M Personalities
52 Sean Hannity $30 M Personalities
52 Peter Jackson $50 M Directors/Producers
52 Toby Keith $65 M Musicians
54 Mark Burnett $86 M Directors/Producers
54 Simon Cowell $95 M Personalities
56 Ellen DeGeneres $70 M Personalities
60 Oprah Winfrey $82 M Personalities
60 Howard Stern $95 M Personalities
63 Rush Limbaugh $66 M Personalities
63 Dr. Phil $77 M Personalities
64 Bruce Springsteen $81 M Musicians
67 James Patterson $90 M Authors
67 Steven Spielberg $100 M Directors/Producers
72 Paul McCartney $71 M Musicians
- One Direction $75 M Musicians
- Bon Jovi $82 M Musicians
- The Eagles $100 M Musicians

This show just isn't all that funny. It's the same
humor recycled over and over. I was bored after
10 random episodes. Same with How I Met Your
Mother. After 4 seasons I quit watching because
it was always the same. The only really great and
innovative comedy was Seinfeld. It will run forever
in syndication. Modern Family is pretty funny but
I've only seen maybe 8 of them in reruns, so time
will tell.

Quote: Evenbob

Modern Family is pretty funny but I've only seen maybe 8 of them in reruns, so time will tell.

The first two seasons TBBT did okay.

By the third season it was ranked #1 in adults 18-49 and barely #2 in total rankings
TWO AND A HALF MEN CBS 14,625
THE BIG BANG THEORY CBS 14,224

In the fourth season, Modern Family displaced it for adults 18-49

They renewed the show for seasons #5-#7 where it has been the top rated sitcom. Now it is by far the highest revenue show on scripted TV.

Quote: Evenbob

This show just isn't all that funny. It's the same
humor recycled over and over. I was bored after
10 random episodes. Same with How I Met Your
Mother. After 4 seasons I quit watching because
it was always the same. The only really great and
innovative comedy was Seinfeld. It will run forever
in syndication. Modern Family is pretty funny but
I've only seen maybe 8 of them in reruns, so time
will tell.

I'd rate it around "Cheers" funny. Not the worst; not the best. But really can't think of much else on the networks that should be doing any better.

I stopped watching Cheers after Diane left.
Two Men got pretty old after the kid got
big, the early ones are by far the funniest.
MF is mostly good because of Al Bundy,
his talent makes up for the rest of them.

Does cable still do strip syndication?

That's when a given show is rerun at least once a day at least five days a week. Some cable channels for Latin America do this. For instance, L&O and House are rerun daily Mon-Fri at 6 and 7 am respectivelyin Universal Channel. The Big Bang Theory gets reruns Mon-Fri 8-9 PM and Sat-Sun 10:30-11:30 am on Warner Channel.

If cable does this, then it needs a relatively long run. Else the reruns will be rerunnning too often with the same episodes. So the question is: how would this affect the networks' decision to keep on a first-run series even if it drops in the ratings?

Quote: Nareed

If cable does this, then it needs a relatively long run. Else the reruns will be rerunnning too often with the same episodes. So the question is: how would this affect the networks' decision to keep on a first-run series even if it drops in the ratings?

Strip syndication has a massive effect on first run renewals. The general rule is that a show is hardly ever terminated after the third season, since a fourth season (usually 88 episodes) is the minimum number for strip syndication.
Hope and Faith was a rare show that was terminated after a third season.

Brad Garret (the brother from Everybody Loves Raymond) was in a sitcom named 'Til Death. Ratings got so low that they were making self-depreciating jokes about it on the series. By it's last season it was the lowest rated scripted show on FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS. But the production company subsidized the salaries until they had 81 episodes and they could sell it in strip syndication. The theory is that people who had never heard of the show would recognize Brad Garret and watch the show if they were just flipping channels.


Shows like Hannibal are now being made for Friday nights. The old theory was that ratings were so low on Friday, that the best thing was to air low budget new magazine show, or reality shows. The new theory is that even if the show is running at a profit loss, the episodes are getting made and they will make a profit in syndication. Spooky and creepy shows are thought to do better in syndication.

But those are the marginal shows. The solid shows (most listed below) are sure to be renewed.

Half Hour Live Shows Certain Renewal
1. Modern Family ABC
2. The Middle ABC
3. 2 Broke Girls CBS
4. Mike & Molly CBS
5. The Big Bang Theory CBS
6. The Millers CBS
7. New Girl Fox
8. About a Boy NBC
   
   Half Hour Live Shows Debated, but eventually renewed
9. Last Man Standing ABC
10. The Goldbergs ABC
11. Mom CBS
12. Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox
13. The Mindy Project Fox (one of the lowest rated shows ever renewed)
14. Parks and Recreation NBC (renewed for final half season)
15. Two and a Half Men CBS (renewed for final half season)
    
    Half Hour Animated Shows Renewed
16. Family Guy, FOX
17. The Simpsons, FOX
18. Bob’s Burgers, FOX

One Hour Shows Certain to be Renewed
1. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC
2. Castle ABC
3. Grey's Anatomy ABC
4. Once Upon A Time ABC
5. Resurrection ABC
6. Scandal ABC
7. Blue Bloods CBS
8. Criminal Minds CBS
9. CSI CBS
10. Elementary CBS
11. Hawaii Five-0 CBS
12. NCIS CBS
13. NCIS: LA CBS
14. Person Of Interest CBS
15. Bones Fox
16. Glee Fox
17. Sleepy Hollow Fox
18. The Following Fox
19. Chicago Fire NBC
20. Chicago P.D. NBC
21. Grimm NBC
22. Law & Order: SVU NBC
23. The Blacklist NBC
    One Hour Shows Debated, but eventually Renewed
24. Nashville ABC
25. Revenge ABC
26. Parenthood NBC
27. Hannibal NBC
28. The Good Wife CBS
29. The Mentalist CBS

Quote: Pacomartin

It's still unusual for a SITCOM to keep rising through the ranks year after year while it's competition is cancelled. Kaley Cuoco has said publicly that she could play Penny in her sleep now, although she is going to be very wealthy by the age of 30.

The writers are screaming that they've done every permutation and combination imaginable, brought in some baby sharks for auditions, etc., yet the audience factor just won't stop mushrooming.

There is real persistent strength in the market, yet the creative types are saying 'the well is dry'. Street Legal was a Canadian show that suffered a similar growth spurt in the audience levels at a time when the writers all declared "its over-- we have had every character interact with everyone and can't come up with anything more."

As far as Street Legal: the writers won. The show disappeared as "fully exploited" despite increasing ratings.

The show was getting an unprecedented average of $634K per minute. Figuring an average of 7 minutes of ads per show (say 8 since including before and after) is $5 million per episode in advertising. Now the salaries of the entire cast must be getting close to that figure. So the show is produced at a loss. The revenue from the show is coming from soft sources (like the fact that it creates a hit show out of whatever follows).

Chuck Lorre has an estimated net worth of $600m vs $30-$35m of the three actors. The actors should move up in the ranks by a huge jump after three years, but Lorre must get a large cut of the revenue. I wouldn't be surprised if he is already making $1 million per episode.

The hard long term revenue from syndication is massive, but their is a cash flow issue.

Quote: Pacomartin

The show was getting an unprecedented average of $634K per minute. Figuring an average of 7 minutes of ads per show (say 8 since including before and after) is $5 million per episode in advertising. Now the salaries of the entire cast must be getting close to that figure. So the show is produced at a loss. The revenue from the show is coming from soft sources (like the fact that it creates a hit show out of whatever follows).

You're missing at least two other sources: 1) the show runs in Latin America on cable and surely in other countries, both new eps and reruns. 2) DVD sales of past seasons. Surely this increases the average revenue per ad minute of new show.