Firstly, regardless of the total amount how is the budget for a US TV Season of twenty odd episodes typically broken down? What percentage goes on writing, sets, equipment, actors, etc?
Secondly, how does that compare to the average UK season of maybe six episodes, and in particular how does the breakdown compare in areas like writing, sets, and so on?
I'm expecting that US TV shows spend a greater percentage on actors and sets than UK ones but have no idea if this is really so.
The cheapest TV shows cost around $60,000 per episode (reality shows), but the most expensive go up to $11,000,000 (all seasons of Friends). Pre-recorded broadcast shows with a host and guests cost from $55,000 to $700,000 (main evening show) which makes it difficult to give a true average to answer your question.
A highly-rated TV sitcom--which means the actors are getting a huge amount of cash--adding the salaries of all concerned plus the sets and other fees, has a budget of about $1,000,000 per episode. An average sitcom would be somewhat less.
Most shows do not make a profit until they go into off network syndication. Popular stars of popular sitcoms can make anywhere from $500,000 to millions of dollars per episode. It also depends on language and how popular show is.
If I had to guess, I'd say an average would be around $1 million per episode. I have written in my language . :P
Commented
Jan 21, 2013 at 9:23
In reality http://www.imdb.com/name/nm it depends on director hired for the show and the salaries of emerging directors like Grace Baine could enlist a reality episode cost of 100k per episode on a pilot reality. this is only below the line production cost covering the crew, production set and director
