Soap Budgets

[mikelyons]

All right, let's talk budgets!

When SEARCH FOR TOMORROW and LOVE OF LIFE launched in 1951, their budgets were $8,750 a week ($437,500/year).

By 2014 or so, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS' budget was $100m per year, one of the highest in television, and then fell to $80m per year. (For context with another highly rated daytime show, OPRAH was produced for $50m per year.)  (Note: I found Y&R's budget in documents from the Sony hack.)

It appears ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE cost $40m to produce (each) per year by the time they were canceled (that $80m went to KATIE).

DAYS' budget has been about $750k per week ($37.5m/year) for a while now.

What other hard budget numbers (weekly/monthly) do we have or know?

[All My Shadows]

Santa Barbara was budgeted at $30 million for its first year, making it the most expensive soap on the air at the time.

[lucaslesann23]

Is YRs budget still 80m?

[mikelyons]

Last time I heard, their budget had settled to $60m per year. I wouldn't be surprised if it was $50-$55m right now, but that's a guess, based on what I'm seeing on screen.

[lucaslesann23]

Yikes, yeah i noticed the show is using less and smaller sets.

[pdm1974]

It's very evident is watching these "classic episodes" that the budgets are a fraction of what they used to be even in the 1990s.

 

Still, the production values of Y&R and B&B are so much better than DAYS. it got to the point that I found it distracting...like that "blue room" that was redressed over and over to be everything.

[lucaslesann23]

I noticed. Camerons suite in the 2004 episode was Huge,  Devons rec center set was also gigantic. And the chancellor mansion had a dining room and bedrooms. Sigh. But yes they still look better than poor af days.

[mikelyons]

That sounds like bad community theatre!

[lucaslesann23]

Whqt was guiding lights budget back in 09?

[AMCer]

Who is the highest paid actor in soaps these days?

 

I assume Lucci probably still held the title in 2010, despite I assume several paycuts over the 2000s.

[mikelyons]

$0.84. 

If I recall correctly, Susan Lucci was the first soap actor to earn $1m per year starting in the 80s. I would think this was around the time Capital Cities bought ABC, thus making ABC part of a larger corporation with greater resources. I do believe she made the most of any actor on daytime until the budget cuts.

Drake Hogestyn was making $10,000 per episode on DAYS before the budget cuts in the early-2000s.

Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott, Peter Bergman, and Doug Davidson were the highest paid actors on Y&R well into the early-2000s clearing between $750k-$1m+ per year. Jeanne Cooper was making around $750k per year during this time due to a smaller guarantee than the other four. I wouldn't be surprised if Lauralee Bell was making close to Cooper.

I've been told that the "core-four" at B&B (Moss, McCook, Flannery, and Lang) were making $1m per year in the early-2000s. It wouldn't surprise me if a bit of their pay came from international licensing fees to keep the CBS' licensing fee at a reasonable level. Also, Brad pays his actors well, even when they're under contract and off-screen! It's been reported that actors have been brought back to B&B, paid $250k-$500k for six months to a year, dropped after three months, and Brad pays out the rest of their contract. 

I wish I knew more about the P&G soaps & their budgets. I've been searching for years!

[titan1978]

Even 10 years ago this would have been easier to answer.  But now I think big name stars are not always the highest paid on their shows.  I doubt Deidre and Drake have the highest contracts anymore.  But DAYS has a lot of stars in their range but no Sweeney there now.  I assume the last 5 years of her contract she was the highest in salary and guarantee.  Now maybe Alfonso?

I know people like Geary made a ton, but he also stopped requesting larger salaries and wanted more time off instead.  And his rewrite dialogue clause to stay intact.  I am sure Maurice is the highest paid GH actor.  Genie might be in the Steve Burton range.  LW is probably up there too.  Just below them Howarth.

I seem to recall from things I have read over the years that when things were really at their peak, ABC paid really well, and so did DAYS.

 

I bet Braeden is the highest paid right now.  Maurice on GH next in line.  KKL on B&B I would have placed up there, but I look at the counts and she isn’t always the leader like she used to be.

Edited May 1, 2020 by titan1978

[Darn]

 

Huge sets and EXTRAS! The rec center, Crimson Lights and GCAC used to be bustling.

 

With the budgets now being in the range of 35-60 million a year, how much revenue are these shows generating? I know ratings suck but it's nothing to scoff at that these shows can still bring in 2-4 million people per day, some primetime shows barely have more than that weekly (for instance, ABC's top rated drama Grey's Anatomy averages 6 million viewers, of course more of them are in the desired demo compared to the soaps) .

[lucaslesann23]

True!, I think the soaps do better than just neilson also. Because we know from toups with the live+7 YR had just over 4 million viewers, and we do not know streaming numbers

[mikelyons]

Exactly. Isn't DAYS still the most watched show on the NBC app/Peacock? Yes, the revenue from VOD and AVOD isn't as big as network, but with constant replays and compounding over a year, it adds up. I'd bet the soaps are making way more money than ABC, CBS, or NBC would care to admit to justify their budget cuts.

 

As for writers, Kay Alden was one of the highest paid - ever. She was making about $10m per year. That may have included all of the sub writers, but those writers are usually employed by Bell Dramatic Serial Company, which is why it was really hard for LML get fire Minardi Slater, Esser, etc.

Irna was making $250k per year from her 15 minute radio soaps during the Depression and into the 1950s.

In the early-1980s, the networks were paying writers about $250k to simply CREATE a daytime serial, of which many were never picked up. It makes sense when you hear some of the big names who were hired to create a soap, but, those shows were almost always let on the dustheap.