I’d also like to think that a lot of the late night guys - Colbert, Stewart, Kimmel, etc - could do just as well on…their own web site, some streaming service, whatever. Colbert’s announcement said the Late Show is 200 people. Writers, researchers, graphics, all the mechanics of just shooting and editing the show. 200 people is at least $10M/year (without Colbert’s own salary). The hosts themselves are (obviously) funny people, but they’ve all got a dozen or a score of really good writers backing them up. Researchers to find the funny clips or kick in topics. Their content will suffer without that machine.
Maybe one or two of these big names could recruit a paying audience big enough to manage that, but they’re not going to pay it out of their own pocket for long. They’re decamillionaires, not billionaires.
payroll for off-screen employees and contracted workers is probably at least 3x that much when you include benefits costs, taxes, and other related expenses.
I’d also like to think that a lot of the late night guys - Colbert, Stewart, Kimmel, etc - could do just as well on…their own web site, some streaming service, whatever. Colbert’s announcement said the Late Show is 200 people. Writers, researchers, graphics, all the mechanics of just shooting and editing the show. 200 people is at least $10M/year (without Colbert’s own salary). The hosts themselves are (obviously) funny people, but they’ve all got a dozen or a score of really good writers backing them up. Researchers to find the funny clips or kick in topics. Their content will suffer without that machine.
Maybe one or two of these big names could recruit a paying audience big enough to manage that, but they’re not going to pay it out of their own pocket for long. They’re decamillionaires, not billionaires.
payroll for off-screen employees and contracted workers is probably at least 3x that much when you include benefits costs, taxes, and other related expenses.
Worked for a payroll company. Been saying for years, if you’re getting $15, they’re paying $30, or more.