When Longevity Becomes Lucrative: The Business of Long-Running TV Shows…By the Numbers - See

[Stephan Bobb]

When Longevity Becomes Lucrative: The Business of Long-Running TV Shows…By the Numbers

Time is money! That’s the best way to describe the “coinage” made from long-running TV shows. These are the programs that are recognizable by two or more generations; yo’ mama and yo mama’s mama have seen ‘em. Look at The Simpsons, that cartoon comedy has been on since 1990 — I wouldn’t be surprised if granny stumbled upon Homer on TV and yelled, “Those yellow people are still on the air?!”

Longevity, without a doubt, is a marker of success: People love it, it’s likely a ratings juggernaut, and the network makes a coin off of it. Now, I can sit and babble on about how profitable these shows are, but how ’bout I show you instead — with facts and figures. With a focus on Black programming (after all, this is MadameNoire), let’s dive into the business of long-running TV shows… by the numbers.

Soul Train

Soul Train lasted so long, the show could double as an exhibition for the evolution of Black fashion over three decades! We’ve watched Soul Train dancers get their “groove on” with bell bottoms in one decade and “bust a move” with Adidas tracksuits the next. Don Cornelius, may he rest in peace, created the longest-running Black TV program ever – and he invested only $400 into Soul Train. Yep, you read correctly — $400! With the pilot launching in 1970 and ending in 2006, he made quite the return.

By ’71, Soul Train began to gain traction and caught the eye of advertisers — cha-ching! Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen, under Johnson Products Co., were one of the first to land a product placement on the hippest show of the decade. The hair company saw its profits jump from $4 million in 1967 to a whopping $40 million in 1976. Cornelius, for sure, also made a pretty penny from ad revenue.

In fact,  Soul Train Music Awards was financed in ’87 thanks to Cornelius’ brand generating $20 million in advertising dollars at one point (his company earned $5 million in commission, as well), according to Love, Peace, & Soul by Erica Blount Danois.

As for ratings, the information on Soul Train viewership is scant. But a ’95 New York Times article found that nationally Soul Train‘s ratings were mediocre, but when zooming in on cities like New York, the show did incredibly well: “It has a 5 rating among women 18 to 34 [in NYC]. . .which is spectacular,” said Richard Kurlander, director of programming for a consulting company.

Though Don Cornelius, worth $15 million, is no longer with us, his  “love, peace, and soul” legacy remains.

The Jeffersons

“We’ve movin’ on up!” Ahh, The Jeffersons. We just loved the way George called his wife “Weezy” and pestered his housekeeper, Florence. It’s the longest-running black cast sitcom. America put up with Jeffersons’ antics for a whole decade — ’75 to 85. A 1980 issue of Ebony reports that The Jeffersons reeled in more than 30 million viewers! Isabel Sanford, who plays George’s wife, revealed that she earned $15,000 a week — not bad, much better than her $49 a week salary as a welfare clerk.

The first season of The Jeffersons, according to Nielsen ratings, was ranked No.4. Unfortunately, after the season premiere, the sitcom remained off the top 10 for the next five years. In 1980, the beloved sitcom got its mojo back and was ranked No.8.

Louise and George continued to captivate the viewers, staying in the top 10, until ’83 rolled around. Ratings tanked and CBS called it quits in ’85. The show was a victim of its own success, actually. The sitcom was syndicated through numerous independent channels, day and night, which translated into overkill for the viewing audience, according to an ’85 Jet issue. But all good things must come to an end, right?

Family Matters

Not even the high-pitched, shrill “Did I do that?” stopped America from tuning in to Steve Urkel, the nerd of all nerds. Jaleel White, who played the awkward dweeb, made a whopping $100,000 per episode.

And did you know that each episode of Family Matters cost the network producers between $1 million and $2 million? It was well-worth the expense — the show averaged 15 million viewers each week and was ranked within the top 50 for eight seasons. Launching in ’89, Family Matters delivered solid ratings that kept the ABC network satisfied — ’til the sitcom made a foolish switch to CBS ’98.

Who could blame CBS for wanting the show? The sitcom had a loyal audience and CBS had a chance to ding their rival, ABC. For 22 new episodes, the network dangled $40 million in front of Miller-Boyet Productions, the company that developed Family Matters. And hey, CBS offered 20 percent more than what ABC was paying, so Miller-Boyet caved.

Unfortunately, CBS didn’t exactly get the return they expected. The Black comedy only attracted 8.62 million viewers and was ranked dismally at No. 108.  But on the upside, Carl Winslow and his family locked in viewing audiences in for nine seasons. The sitcom is the second-longest running Black cast show after The Jeffersons.

The Cosby Show

America was enraptured by the quirky, admirable Dr. Huxtable and his exquisite, silver-tongued wife. First airing in ’84, The Cosby Show viewership peaked during the ’86-’87 season with 63 million viewers, according to The Greatest Show on Earth: ‘The Cosby Show’ and the Ascent of Amer...

And where there’s big audiences, there’s big bucks! WWOR-TV

The Cosby Show reruns in 1986. By ’88, Viacom — Cosby’s distributor at the time – sold 1,820 30-second ad spots during Cosby reruns for $60 million.

The African-American “feel good” sitcom also captured a global audience; Cosby earned over $100 million from international syndication revenue. The show did especially well in the UK and France. In 1990, A United Kingdom network paid between $16,000 -$23,000 per Cosby episode while a French network shelled out $30,000-$45,000. Domestically, Cosby earned $1 billion in ad revenue during its eight-season run (’84-92).

A 1990 Entertainment Weekly article reports that NBC paid about $900,000 per episode; The Cosby Show was the most expensive show of its time. It was a fortuitous investment for NBC since The Cosby Show helped the network crawl out of its lousy last-place ratings.

As for Bill Cosby, now currently worth $350 million, he earned $40,000 per episode. That might not seem like much now, but at the time of the show’s airing, Cosby was the highest paid actor in history.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

So…this is a story all about how The Fresh Prince of Bel Air became a hit! Debuting in 1990, the show that turned Will Smith into a superstar became the No. 2 network show among African Americans in ’93. How many people watched the show per week? An  average of 20 million. The sitcom also did well among all teens, only trailing behind Beverly Hills, 90210. 

Unfortunately there’s little information on the pecuniary details of The Fresh Prince franchise, but I did gather a few interesting tidbits:

The sitcom reportedly earned $200 million in syndication revenue.

The show’s theme song is valued at $60,000. In fact, you can literally buy the rights to Fresh Prince’s signature tune on RoyaltyExchange.com. The two-minute theme song reels in an average of $10,645 a year in royalties.

And the owners of the famed white mansion can probably thank the show for increasing their property value. “Hey, this house was featured on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” is a pretty cool selling point. Today, the white Los Angeles estate (with five bedrooms and baths) is worth $6.7 million.

With six seasons, the hit comedy ended with a bang in ’96; it’s one of the longest-running Black sitcoms to date.