How much do they make?

March 15, 2006 8:48 PM

Adam Sesler and Morgan Webb. How much are they pulling down a year?

G4tv hosts of X-Play.

I'm thinking $90,000 each. Maybe Sesler gets more.

posted by sharksandwich to work & money (15 comments total)

I'm curious how much people make on TV. I assume it's always in the six figures, even on small cable shows, but then budgets can't be that high when there is a big cast.
posted by mathowie at 9:11 PM on March 15, 2006

I would guess your estimate is low by at least a factor of 2x - 3x. On-air TV personalities make pretty decent bucks, because the show really can't deal with them leaving because someone else makes a better offer.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:20 PM on March 15, 2006

You really think 100K or more? I recall reading that in the first season of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, each "guy" made about $3,000 per episode. $39,000/year (13 episodes) sounds like a rip off to me. But, that is reality television and not the big leagues like G4tv.
posted by sharksandwich at 9:21 PM on March 15, 2006

My guess is ... it's not that much. A similar question came up a while back ... here was my answer...

I have two personal friends who are recognizable regulars on a mid- to low-level popular half-hour sitcom, and a mid- to low-level one hour comedy/romance type show. The former makes about $25,000 per episode. The latter makes about $75,000 per episode (although this person is far more a part of the cast). Still, neither are the "stars" by a longshot. Both will also make residuals every time their episode is shown. Both also get smallish shares of DVD sales.

Oh, and keep in mind that they'll book 15-20 episodes per season. And their salary is fixed per episode, not anything else. So, they get the same salary for a five-second apperance as they do a five-minute appearance.

That's a lot. But it's network TV. Regarding G4...

1) G4 is cable, still not carried everywhere. The audience is considerably lower than network TV. The pay scales are not even close to being the same.

2) With such a small show, these on-camera personalities could also be receiving production/writing credits, which would increase their take.

That being said, while I don't have any inside knowledge about this G4 show, I would guess that these guys aren't getting paid much at all, and they're easily replaceable since they're not well known. I'd honestly be surprised if they were pulling down more than 1K per episode for the on-camera work, and unknown amount more if they're contributing to the behind-the-camera work.
posted by frogan at 9:21 PM on March 15, 2006

because the show really can't deal with them leaving because someone else makes a better offer

I beg to differ. Considering my friends' experience again, the one on the half-hour sitcom, one of the "stars" (not my friend) is not coming back next season because ... well ... because he sucks. They're dealing with this quite easily.

Unless you're a truly recognizable star (as in, they literally built the show around you), you can always be replaced very, very easily.
posted by frogan at 9:26 PM on March 15, 2006

I'd be willing to bet it's less than 6 figures... G4 is small potatoes cable, and these people are normal nerds, for the most part. None of them are tremendously talented, and while the girls like Morgan Webb are cute, they're run of the mill "good looking" stacked up next to hot celebrities - it's just that "for a girl who can talk about computer stuff" she's practically a supermodel.

The shows on G4 are relatively low budget and probably don't sell a boatload of advertising, so I'd guess they make pretty normal salaries... in the 50's or so. 75-80k at the most...
posted by twiggy at 9:58 PM on March 15, 2006

Kevin Periera lives in a studio apartment in a not-particularly-fashionable area of LA.

You do the math.
posted by softlord at 10:19 PM on March 15, 2006

frogan, why all the secrecy? It was my askme that you posted that info to previously, and I'm not sure what the "big secret" is in revealing at least the show in question. Most people already know that if you get a network show you can make big dough, etc. It's not like you're posting your friend's W-2's online, but an inkling of what shows would get you $N,000 an episode would be nice. We know your friends aren't franchise-actor like a Kelsey Grammer or any of the Friends or Earl Hickey, so I don't understand why you act as if this is some big national security secret that the muckraking tabloids are going to swoop in and put on the cover of The Star.

You sound like you either are making up the whole quasi- celebrity friends thing (I have a mid- to- low- level- celebrity girlfriend myself... er, but she lives in Canada, you see!!!), or are talking like a cheesy gossip columnist by using cheeky wink-wink phrases like "mid- to low-level popular half-hour sitcom". Just freakin' tell us the show(s) already- it doesn't even "out" who your friends are specifically. Does "mid- to low-level popular half-hour sitcom" refer to filler crap on a Saturday night on the WB, the literal dregs of network programming... or something that's not hugely popular but doing well enough to keep getting renewed, like jonmc's favorite sitcom, "King of Queens" or something like "According to Jim"?

The reason people ask these questions is to know how "big" a celebrity has to be before they're making fuck-you money. Like, is some MeFite who's day job is mid-level sysadmin or an HR manager actually making more than the minimally famous people they see on basic cable shows for G4TV or Bravo? Is a receptionist earning more than a Real Worlder? Are there people making enough to retire (i.e., if they aren't snorting it all, to invest the bulk of their paychecks and live off the interest in perpetuity) from a couple of seasons as a minor recurring character on an NBC sitcom or CSI:Bumfuck? Did Paige Davis make retirement money from her TS seasons, or will she be turning tricks in the City of Industry in about 3 years when the last bit of saved Banyan cash has been spent?

Inquiring minds want to know!
posted by hincandenza at 3:06 AM on March 16, 2006

I remember when I watched The Screen Savers religiously on TechTV, the younger people on the show like Kevin Rose lived in normal-looking apartments and had roommates. I'm guessing they didn't make all that much. Or maybe they kept living that way to "keep it real." Or knew that their 15 minutes could be up at any time and saved everything.
posted by zsazsa at 5:55 AM on March 16, 2006

Kevin Periera lives in a studio apartment in a not-particularly-fashionable area of LA.

That gives you a lower bound on what he makes, not an upper bound. He may only be spending 5% of his income on housing.
posted by malp at 6:26 AM on March 16, 2006

That gives you a lower bound on what he makes, not an upper bound. He may only be spending 5% of his income on housing.

He may be living free, too, because his parents own the apartment building, but I think it's more likely that he's not the rare scrimper data point socking his cash away for a rainy day.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 6:37 AM on March 16, 2006

So how much is Leo pulling down a year? And how much has been PayPal'd to TWIT?
posted by JamesMessick at 7:09 AM on March 16, 2006

The shows on G4 are relatively low budget and probably don't sell a boatload of advertising, so I'd guess they make pretty normal salaries... in the 50's or so. 75-80k at the most...
posted by twiggy at 9:58 PM PST on March 15 [!]


Kevin Periera lives in a studio apartment in a not-particularly-fashionable area of LA.

You do the math.
posted by softlord at 10:19 PM PST on March 15 [!]


I'm with you guys...I seriously doubt they make more than 75-80 a year
posted by poppo at 7:29 AM on March 16, 2006

hincandenza, I'm terribly sorry to upset your fragile sensibilities. OK, actually I'm not sorry. Kidding! No, I'm not.

Anyway, I was unaware that you were the same questioner.

I'm not sure what the "big secret" is in revealing at least the show in question. ... Just freakin' tell us the show(s) already- it doesn't even "out" who your friends are specifically.

Actually, telling you the shows does "out" them to a sufficient degree. These productions are day-to-day nightmares, in terms of "office politics." Let's just say one of them is on one of the WB's top-rated shows, and the other is on one of NBC's mid-rated shows (which I think I also spilled previously).

Like, is some MeFite who's day job is mid-level sysadmin or an HR manager actually making more than the minimally famous people they see on basic cable shows for G4TV or Bravo?

Probably, yes. Definitely, if you approach the problem in terms of "how much are they pulling down a year," which is a concept that's somewhat alien for actors. Another friend of mine pulled down $5K for a single day's work on a beer commercial. Sounds great, right? But it was paid out in semi-random residual checks over the course of three months, and he's definitely not booking work five days a week, 50 weeks a year. On the other hand, yet another friend clears about $200K in total booking about 10 national commercials a year.

I recently wrapped a video game project, where we had SAG actors for voice-overs. They ranged from $500 to $800 for four hour sessions (generally SAG scale). Some might think that's great, until I tell them I had 300+ auditions for 30 speaking roles. The pay is good ... if you can get it ... and if you can get it consistently.

Did Paige Davis make retirement money from her TS seasons

My guess is no. She probably was making about $3-5K per episode at its peak (so ... 60 episodes in total for three seasons? How long was she on the show?), and the shows were re-run over and over again, which was nice for residuals. Plus, she parlayed some of her "fame" into endorsements and commercials for home improvement companies. But she left the show to go work on Broadway. That should tell you something right there.
posted by frogan at 10:23 AM on March 16, 2006

As was pointed out above, Sesler and Webb (and Periera) all write and produce for their respective shows, which undoubtably boosts their pay. It's the hostesses of shows like Cheat and Filter who, if that's their only gig, probably have to model at the boat show to make ends meet.
posted by schoolgirl report at 10:27 AM on March 16, 2006