A significant amount has been scripted during the years in relation to the expenses and profits in the television industry, no big attempt is made to hide the costs of making a Hollywood film and unlike nearly all other businesses the success of a film is very openly calculated by it's weekly takings.
It is only in present times however that we are receiving a look into similar numbers for Television series, the cast members of the hit US series 'Friends' created headlines in 2002 when they were paid $1m apiece per episode giving us an insight as to the production cost of every show and circuitously hinting at the likely profit that can be expected from creating half hour tv shows.
Are there actually meaningful dissimilarities between US and English Comedy making costs?
Whilst potentially similar to if not superior in caliber the English Comedy receives nowhere close to the development cash of it's US counterpart. A standard English comedy runs in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand British Pounds (about $320k) per production compared to an estimate of $1.3 million for the American equivalent. Without a doubt the size of the potential audience has plenty to do with this, the big budget US comedies have a large home market and likewise draw audiences by syndication to Canadian and British TV while the humbler English comedy does not match too easily into the programming of American television broadcasters.
Tune in figures for a sitcom will closely shape the revenue generated through adverts and product placement, it will likewise regulate the syndication discussions as the show enters wider distribution. Television comedies however, frequently book in the red during their opening showing and deliver income for their makers only after the Box set distributions begin, probable DVD sales are usually a key consideration when determining if a comedy show is going to be viable and should be green lighted for production. This is of specific concern to the not so large producers who do not benefit strongly from advertising or product placement, as such Dvd earnings are of the upmost importance. Many English comedy productions would not have been developed if the promising DVD profit did not exist.
This is only a brief overview of the many different elements involved in deciding whether a sitcom will be economically successful or not, determining in advance these inputs can often be as much art as science, consider the income from the American Office (season 5) which generated $14 million in Box set sales in it's first week of release and contrast this to the somewhat meager $2.4 million produced by the most viewed comedy in the US, Two and a Half Men (season 6), released the very same week... Comedy-nomics anyone??
It is only in present times however that we are receiving a look into similar numbers for Television series, the cast members of the hit US series 'Friends' created headlines in 2002 when they were paid $1m apiece per episode giving us an insight as to the production cost of every show and circuitously hinting at the likely profit that can be expected from creating half hour tv shows.
Are there actually meaningful dissimilarities between US and English Comedy making costs?
Whilst potentially similar to if not superior in caliber the English Comedy receives nowhere close to the development cash of it's US counterpart. A standard English comedy runs in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand British Pounds (about $320k) per production compared to an estimate of $1.3 million for the American equivalent. Without a doubt the size of the potential audience has plenty to do with this, the big budget US comedies have a large home market and likewise draw audiences by syndication to Canadian and British TV while the humbler English comedy does not match too easily into the programming of American television broadcasters.
Tune in figures for a sitcom will closely shape the revenue generated through adverts and product placement, it will likewise regulate the syndication discussions as the show enters wider distribution. Television comedies however, frequently book in the red during their opening showing and deliver income for their makers only after the Box set distributions begin, probable DVD sales are usually a key consideration when determining if a comedy show is going to be viable and should be green lighted for production. This is of specific concern to the not so large producers who do not benefit strongly from advertising or product placement, as such Dvd earnings are of the upmost importance. Many English comedy productions would not have been developed if the promising DVD profit did not exist.
This is only a brief overview of the many different elements involved in deciding whether a sitcom will be economically successful or not, determining in advance these inputs can often be as much art as science, consider the income from the American Office (season 5) which generated $14 million in Box set sales in it's first week of release and contrast this to the somewhat meager $2.4 million produced by the most viewed comedy in the US, Two and a Half Men (season 6), released the very same week... Comedy-nomics anyone??
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Finally, do you want to find out more about British Comedy, then you can see plenty more additional posts, clips and articles on my English Comedy blog.
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