Tuesday, March 30, 2010

What Kate Could Get Paid If She Learns To Dance

My blog reader mocha brought up the discussion of what the "stars" make on Dancing With The Stars. The general idea is the same with most reality TV shows: The longer you stay on, the more you make. On some shows, like the bachelor/bachelorette franchises, you only get paid if you're one of the final three or four (some reports state they don't get paid at all.) That means all those 15 - 20 single guys and gals who didn't find true love spent a lot of money of their own for nothing (imagine the clothes alone, not to mention travel, lost work time or even lost jobs, and more.) Meanwhile the producers make millions of dollars on these shows. So keep that in mind when you hear these salaries. These figures are just a drop in the bucket compared to the huge paydays generated by ad revenue for these shows.

This report from The Insider online says each DWTS star gets $200,000 for being on the show no matter how soon they're voted off, with bonuses if they stay in the show to the end, with the longest stayer getting the highest bonus.

WikiAnswers says all the professional dancers get paid $5,200 a week. The celebrities get paid about $250,000 if they stay all nine weeks.

Here's WikiAnswers statement on what Jon and Kate made per episode of J&K+8. If it's true (and I'm sure it's not) that they as a family made $22,500 per episdoe, TLC got one hell of a deal. J&K+8 was TLC's highest rated show ever, which means they made more commercial revenue during that show than any other. Considering the high commercial revenue and Kate's financial savvy and insistence on only the best, $50,000 - $75,000 per episide is a much more realistic figure. Hopefully the kids had their own salaries and that money has been put into trust for their futures. After all, without them there would have been no show.

This link to Extra Online tells the salaries of several reality TV show stars. They report Jon and Kate made $75,000 per episode, which I believe to be accurate. J&K+8 became so popular that season three had 31 and season four had 41 episodes. When you compare the J&K+8 salaries of a half hour show taped in and around the convenience of your home (generating a total of anywhere from $400,000* to $3,075,000** per season) to an entire DWTS season of having to practice dancing for hours a day and the hassle and exhaustion of traveling 3,000 miles for weekly tapings for a grand total of $200,000 and maybe if you're lucky $250,000, which is really the better pay?

*based on minimum salary of 8 episodes at $50,000 per episode for season one

**based on maximum salary of 41 episodes at $75,000 episode in season four

20 comments:

SMB said...

I noticed you figured their Season One salary to be $50,000 per episode.

From the reports I've read, their Season One salary was more like $2,000 per episode. One of Jon's pleadings in TLC's injunction case against him lists their per-episode salaries throughout the years.

I guess that goes to show how sticky their financial situation was if they were willing to do the show that year for a minimum of around $16,000. If they were better off, they may not have made the choice to put the children on TV.

Werny Gal said...

Wow SMB, that's highway robbery. Do you think it's true? I don't believe Jon's claim on CNN that they got $22,500 per episode when all other reports stated it was $50,000 or $75,000. Do you really think Kate would have agreed to do it for $2000 an episode? How about $2000 per Gosselin? That would have made it $20,000 which is more believable, right?

SMB said...

I'm sure as the seasons went on, they got paid more and more. Apparently Jon and Kate didn't think they would become so popular! As you say, they clearly made a TON of moolah for TLC.

Mocha said...

WG,
I know that real estate is down all over, but I thought I'd ask since you are in the area. Is $1.2 million a good deal for the Gosselin estate? It's a beautiful house and property. Do you live in such a sprawling home? Is that typical for the area?

Mocha said...

I heard the $2000 per epidose for the first season, but it must have gone up pretty quick. Jodi and Kevin said they themselves made $3000 per episode, in season 2 or 3. You know the Gosselins made a lot more, right?
We know they didn't get paid per Gosselin. That's part of the whole controversy. The kids weren't paid only the parents.
So if it's in court documents, can we see it online somewhere?

Mocha said...

Looks like Jon is in the area again and will be around when Kate is in LA. I read that he is living locally to you again- hurray!!! Any idea where?

Werny Gal said...

Wow mocha, your fingers are burning up the keyboard today! :) The house was bought for 1.3 million from what I have heard locally. I heard the seller gave them somewhat of a break and wouldn't have if they knew who the buyers were. I suspect that's because the seller was familiar with Kate because they both worked at Reading Hospital, and maybe also because by the time J&K+8 moved to Werny she already had an awful reputation as being, well, Kate. And by the time they moved here they could clearly afford the house, so the seller would probably not have given them a break. The Gosselins got an excellent price for the house and property. If the economy had been way up they could've paid, at the most, maybe $800,000-$1 million more for it. But J&K got lucky because houses were going for very low at the time. In some of nmy very early blog posts I show pictures I took of the outside of the property and talk about the sellers. The father is the obstetrition who delivered our first son and his partner at that time delivered our second. They are a very nice family and were very hurt by all the crap Kate said on the show about the house being dirty and having rodents when they moved in (I believe "filthy" was her word.) It is a rural property and had been empty for some time before J&K+8 moved in, and mice do look for warm houses in the wintertime. That's just what mice do, it doesn't have to mean your house is dirty. It was unprofessional of her and uncalled for, espcially to anyone who knows the former owners and what a good family they really are.

I heard Jon is looking for a local apartment so he will be living in berks County full time again. Of course during his three days with the kids he still has his apartment over the garage.

SMB said...

Mocha,

I'm pretty sure the court docs I saw were on Radar waaaaay back when. And I'm sure their salary did raise pretty quickly, because I think the show was popular from the beginning...especially if you consider how many episodes they did in seasons 2-4.

IATK said...

WG: "They are a very nice family and were very hurt by all the crap Kate said on the show"

~~~~~~~~~
Isn't this typical Kate and how she treats most people?
~~~~~~~~~

There's a report on philly.com tonight about Jon retaining a new lawyer. Have you heard anything else on this? I'll post the first part of the article that pertains to this. It's rather long.

"Lawyer: TV’s Jon Gosselin seeking help in Media

By Mari A. Schaefer

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Don't be surprised if you see Jon Gosselin, of the defunct Jon and Kate Plus 8 series, in Delaware County.

Gosselin's new Media-based attorney, Anthony List, said Jon will visit his offices Friday to discuss a number of postdivorce issues and matters related to Gosselin's contract with TV network TLC.

About five years ago, List said he received a call from an old friend and classmate - Thomas Gosselin, Jon's father. The two go back to their days at Monsignor Bonner High School in Upper Darby and later college at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland.

Tom Gosselin, who was in poor health at the time, asked him List to be available should his son's family need a lawyer, the attorney said.

About five weeks ago, List said he received a call from Beverly Hills. It was Jon Gosselin.
"I think I need your help," Gosselin told List.

In addition to contract issues with TLC, List said they plan to review the custody arrangement. He said they are concerned Kate's busy schedule leaves little time with the kids.

"I don't know how she is able to spend any quality time with the children," said List. "Children need the physical presence of a mother especially during these tender years."

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20100401_Lawyer__TVs_Jon_Gosselin_seeking_help_in_Media.html

IATK said...

WG, I've posted a couple of times on your blog and it posts and is there, but when I leave your site and come back later the post is gone. Have you had any problems with other posts?

Werny Gal said...

Hi itsabout, yes, occasionally I have a problem with commenting, but not often. I always refresh my browser and make sure the comment is positively posted before leaving. When I do that everything seems to be fine. Also, before refreshing I "control C" my comment so if it gets lost I can immediately cut and paste it back rather than having to remember it and write it all over again. But that's just because I'm paranoid and OCD! :)

I do remove a comment once in a great while if it's really nasty, but I've never removed anything of yours, so try the refreshing thing to confirm it's there, to be on the safe side.

IATK said...

Thanks! I also heard blogger was having intermittent problems so maybe that's why. Generally I copy my long posts to the clipboard just in case, but these were short. No biggie. I just always wonder if I'm that forgetful and thought I posted but didn't. LOL

Mocha said...

Thanks for the info, everyone.
WG, the house and property do look like they are worth more than 1.3 million. I have read it was a bad purchase, but I am not sure about that. Jon must have been given other property, assets, or cash to buy him out of that nice home. I hope he didn't just give it away because of his infatuation with his girlfriend and that miserable lawyer he had.

Werny Gal said...

As far as I know Jon and Kate still both own the house and property and say they're keeping it for the kids. Kate just lives there four days a week and Jon is there (maybe in his apartment or maybe in the main house) three days a week. So far there have been no signs that they are selling the house and as far as I know the house and proerty were not named as terms in the divorce.
http://www.divorcesaloon.com/jon-and-kate-gosselin-divorce-settlement-terms-exposed

The house may not have been an exceptional deal in this economy, but they did get the free new kitchen with all the bells and whistles plus they got the "going green" installations for free as well. Both of those upgrades greatly increased the value of the house.

Factoid: The previous owner had horses and asked me if I'd ever like to come over and ride them. His kids were getting older and the horses weren't getting enough exercise. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to do so.

GeorgiaMom said...

I am very, very concerned about the well being of those children. Please go and check the Radaronline photos of the Easter Egg Hunt. I believe it is Hannah pictured with Aiden in which she has what appears to be, some very large ugly bruises on her neck, arm and back. www.radaronline.com/photos/image/55978/2010/04/kate-gosselin-has-easter-egg-hunt-kids

Werny Gal said...

Hi Georgia, I've looked at the pictures at that link and the pictures I took today (not all of which I posted in today's entry) and I think those were shadows. I do share your concerns though, but more about the effects of unwanted infamy being thrust on the children without their informed consent. Believe me, if I thought they were being physically abused in any way I would be the first to call the authorities. Thanks for your concern, it is appreciated.

bbsak said...

HI WG,
I read here regularly, but I haven't commented in a really long time.

The Gosselin kids earned no money from the J&K+8 show (per documents from the TLC/Jon lawsuit). TLC said they left it up to the parents to take care of putting money away for the kids and from all reports it didn't happen until the TLC-Jon lawsuit, when Kate supposedly set up some kind of trust for them, but figures have never been disclosed.

Have you heard if Jon is in the area more frequently lately? Jon has custody every other weekend for a long weekend (not every weekend) and he has recently seen a new attorney to discuss custody/visitation among other issues. Hopefully with Kate in LA 4 days a week for DWTS and then leaving for a new book tour on April 15 the courts will agree that a parent in the house is better than a babysitter and will give Jon a more generous custody arrangement.

I'd have to go back and verify this, but I don't believe Kevin and Jody were paid for doing J&K+8. TLC wanted to pay them, Kate said no one would be paid but J&K and that's why you never say Jody on the show again.

Pamela Jaye said...

Hi Werny Gal,
you made me laugh with the Control C - I've lost so many posts that I'm a bit compulsive about that myself these days! There's one board I post on that logs me off at random and tosses me to login page, trashing my posts in the process, and then there are other sites where I can crash my entire browser and when it comes back up, it still has my yet to be posted post.
A couple of days ago, I was posting in one tab (Firefox), went off to check on something and then didn't come back for a day and a half (TV never destroyed out attention spans the way the internet does: TV is linear!) Finally got it posted a day and a half after I started... (never got thru all the comments on this post though.)

I feel even worse, now, for the previous owner with all of Kate's talk of the "filthy" fridge (when you knew she'd have a new one next week). Did she know who the owners were?

I hear ABC hit the DWTS jackpot this season and is beating American Idol. I usually watch neither but I watched DWTS last fall on Fast Forward just to see Donny (and then I watched the finale live - thankfully, it did not conflict with Chuck.)

I do hope Kate stays on the show a bit. Not enought to win (ha!) or to get paid more, just enough to have to work her tush off and stand in front of judges not swayed by any of her usual tactics.
Donny said he's never worked so hard in his life, if i recall correctly.
Hey, Kate wants Fame. She should remember what Debbie Allen said...

Werny Gal said...

Hi Pamela, I don't know if J&K knew whose house it was but probably not because it was vacant by the time they moved in. If it was ovccupied and she saw family pix of the previous owners she might have recognized the doctor and his family. But the seller definitely did not know who was buying it.

Melissa Chermak said...

Feeling superior? Or like the SNL chuch lady would say "Special"? It is not normal or sane behavior to make a hate blog. Please get help and find a positive way to focus your energy. There are many volunteer organizations that actually need people. Red Cross, EMS, Meals on wheels... anything but professing hate. Or are you one of those people who picketted the funeral of the fallen marine too. Just gotta wonder who you think you are?