With whom is your soap's money invested?

[sheilaforever]

B&B

1 - Lang (by a mile), Flannery, Moss (due to his popularity in Italy/Oz etal.), McCook (distant 4th due to his lower amount of appearances)

2 - Tylo (coming close to McCook), Wagner (as well), Tom (slitghtly dropped off), Down

3 - Harmon (third tier due to his diminished airtime), Kay, Jones, Mills, Gareis

4 - Lowder, Beemer, Woods, Battle

Some musings:

KKL is by far making the biggest mony on the show; the enormous amount of appearances plus her huge market value (her Q index should be off the walls)... Susan Flannery probably makes more money per episode, plus she's having two extra-long vacation periods stipulated in her contract.

Lesley-Anne Down made possibly double the money when she joined the show. Her guarantees have been lowered twice according to magazines; 2008 and her resting not withstanding; even though being a bigger name she's now probably making nearly the same money as Harmon and Kay.

I really think that even though John McCook is an original cast member and pillar of the show, Hunter Tylo and Jack Wagner are likely to have similar incomes to him... Especially La Tylo has made clear in the past that she's driving a hard bargain in contract negotions.

[DaytimeFan]

Here's the thing...B&B is the best show to work on in daytime.

For starters, the money is good. When Kimberlin Brown came back in 2002 she was paid $750,000 and was on for what? 6 months? B&B also has a summer hiatus and a Christmas holiday that's double what the other shows do. They do film 2 shows a day but what's the difference between that and Y&R? There is no difference. B&B offers the best lifestyle in the business.

Like at Y&R the actors can order food to their dressing rooms like hotel room service. Dressing rooms are spacious and elegant...the whole experience is just different. The Bells know how to do business.

In terms of Lesley Anne Down at B&B, I don't doubt that she makes less than when she first joined, but she very dramatically walked out of contract negotiations in 2006 when Brad Bell presented her with an offer that she didn't find suitable. She literally got up, tore the unsigned contract in two and instructed her lawyer to help her clear out her dressing room, which is exactly what they did. Brad Bell was horrified. He had a new (much nicer) contract drawn up the next day and Lesley Anne moved her things back to the studio. While LAD's actions at most studios would guarantee that Jackie Marone would find herself killed off dramatically, Brad Bell was very impressed with her confidence and self worth. He likes her a lot and respects her completely. She also really likes him, they get along very well, she 'gets' him...her recent troubles with breast cancer only strengthened the bond, especially since it's well known that Susan Flannery and John McCook adore LAD.

[bandbfan]

You'd think with all that money she's getting they could come up with a good story for Shelia . Although I think that 02 story was better than the one the next year.

Anyway, thanks for all the info.

I was wondering if Brad really thinks about guarantees and appearances and such when they do contracts, or at least how they go about promising to fulfill those. I mean you would assume so, and no doubt something is written out, but I wonder how many are easily done (other than the core 4's). There are so many storylines that get dropped or rather little pieces of things that never amount to anything big. An example I can think of would be Beth's/Robin Riker's dropping. I can't imagine that they would go to the trouble of hiring such a potentially main character and getting her on contract only to plan to drop her a few weeks/months later. She may not have been THAT popular, but I didn't think she was bad. She really wasn't even around enough to judge.

[DaytimeFan]

Interesting that you bring that up...B&B doesn't have monthly guarantees, they have yearly ones. All of the actors agree to be paid for a minimum number of episodes (which is their guarantee)...they're paid whether they appear or not. For instance, Actress X is paid $500,000 to appear in 75 episodes. After these 75 episodes, Actress X is paid $2,500 per episode. That's how B&B contracts work.

Robin Riker is one in a line of MANY who has signed a very nice contract, been paid a very nice amount and appeared in a handful of episodes before being unceremoniously dumped. Sarah Buxton signed a big money 1 year deal in 2005 and appeared on the show for one month which was much shorter than even a contract cycle. Brad Bell was said to feel really bad about ditching her so that he could bring Hunter Tylo back so he paid an additional cycle on her contract. Brad Bell isn't the most focused EP or HW...he gets moments of brilliance, sort of Soap Opera Attention Deficit Disorder. Robin Riker, as well as all of his other 'Hire & Fire' actors, are simply dumped at the end of their contract cycle. Don't cry for her, everyone at B&B gets a bonus when they're canned.

[bandbfan]

I mean, even "firing bonus" aside, it seems like getting fired wouldn't be bad at all, lol. I'd guess that some stars really want the work and exposure, but if I'm sure they like getting paid for nothing just fine.

[y&r_fan]

My guesses for B&B:

1. Flannery

2. McCook, Lang, Moss, Tylo, Wagner, Tom

3. Jones, Gareis, Kay, Harmon, Mills, Down

4. Battle, Wood, Lowder, Beemer

[JackPeyton]

First: Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady), Peter Reckell (Bo Brady), Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady), Joseph Mascolo (Stefano DiMera)

Second: John Aniston (Victor Kiriakis), Bryan R. Dattilo (Lucas Roberts), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady Johnson), Stephen Nichols (Steve Johnson), Thaao Penghlis (Tony DiMera),

Third: Renee Jones (Lexie Carver), James Reynolds (Abe Carver), Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton), Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip Kiriakis), Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts), Peggy McCay (Caroline Brady), James Scott (EJ Wells), Josh Taylor (Roman Brady), Arianne Zucker (Nicole Kiriakis)

Fourth: Darin Brooks (Max Brady), Molly Burnett (Melanie Layton), Shelley Hennig (Stephanie Johnson), Rachel Melvin (Chelsea Benson), Nadia Bjorlin (Chole Lane Black), Shawn Christian (Daniel Jonas), Galen Gering (Rafael Hernandez), Eric Martsolf (Brady Black)

idk. i tried. what do yall think?

[nassaunew]

How often does Y&R conduct Q focus groups? Approximately how much do 4th tier persons make per episode?

[DaytimeFan]

Y&R conducts focus groups quarterly. MAB, HS, SH and PR are also very aware of online message boards. Believe it or not they do take a lot of it seriously because they feel fans who take to message boards, overall, are passionate about the show. Per episode salary is impossible to determine because everyone has different levels of guaranteed episodes a year, the days of weekly or monthly guarantees are over. People in the 4th tier make between 80 and 120 thousand a year at Y&R.

[bandbfan]

While I do think listening to fans occasionally is fine (especially in cases where a large percentage feels a certain way), I would think they'd have to be careful with doing the internet thing with Y&R's older skewing audience. Not that younger viewers shouldn't be respected, but they have a ton of older traditional viewers that probably aren't as fickle as younger ones.

[soapguy1]

I'd move Doug Davidson to the first tier. He's the second longest serving actor on the show (after Cooper) and he's very well compensated for it. Trust me, his salary is first tier with Braeden, Thomas-Scott, & Cooper.

[NorrthCafe]

To whichever kind soul does you such a kind favor, please turn it in my direction, NEXT! I'm hoping to see less and less of these two. If there was only some way Chloe was really Jess' baby.