Thursday 11 September 1997
By eBroadcast Staff and agencies.

In the battle to keep the stars which bring the viewers, the networks have been paying out huge sums of money to the casts of hits shows. (Think Jerry Seinfeld who, courtesy of NBC, now finds himself sixth on the Forbes money list of megabuck entertainers, turning "nothing" into a $98 million income last year.)

When they made pay-to-stay deals with stars like Seinfeld, the networks believed they could get the money back by upping ad rates. But Madison Avenue is balking at the plan, says Daily Variety, refusing to ante up big bucks for shows that have actually lost ratings.

The addition of new nets UPN and WB, the advent of satellite TV and the proliferation of the 100-channel cable universe have eroded the viewer base of the four major networks. Instead of charging more like they hoped, TV bosses are forced to charge less than in the past. That means that the nets will have to live with lower profits and, in some cases, probable loss.

No show is immune. Seinfeld--still the top earning show--saw its Nielsens drop 3 percent last season. This year, a 30-second spot is a bargain at $525,000, compared to $550,000 a year ago. ER, down 4 percent, had ad rates falling to $475,000 down from $500,000, and Friends, whose high salaries are now guaranteed through the end of the century, dropped 10 percent in only its third season, reducing its rates drastically from $475,000 to $350,000. 3rd Rock from the Sun only gets $200,000 a pop.

If profits at NBC's hit-factory are slipping, imaging how bad things are at third-place ABC. The snake-bitten net's high-rated Monday Night Football, which last season cost $400,000, is only $330,000 now. And while speculation continues whether Tim Allen (13th on the Forbes list with $66 million) will agree to more Home Improvement after this season, his ratings have slipped 14 percent, dropping ad rates all the way from $425,000 to $295,000.

Over at CBS, Cosby only brought that $295,000 rate last season, but half that this year, while Murphy Brown, staggering into its 10th season, only commands $125,000. Even the highest rated shows, like Touched by an Angel and 60 Minutes, aren't earning more than $175,000 a spot.

At Fox things are a little brighter with The X-Files and the cheaper cartoon casts of The Simpsons and King of the Hill earning over the $200,000 mark for a spot.

Just imagine how our local networks must feel about this. Oh how they wish they could charge these rates!