The television landscape has definitely become a very competitive battle ground for broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services. They all vie not only on viewership and audience share, but also on big name stars to headline shows. In fact, streaming entities has recently scored big names, including Robert Niro, luring him and other movie stars to the world of television.
Apparently, this competition allows movie stars to earn hefty amounts, with top dollars being paid per episode. But movie stars are not the only ones making money on television. Stars of massively popular and long-running franchises like "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead" are also making a lot of money, to keep with in contract with the show.
The upcoming season is an exciting one for media observers, as Oscar winners are now joining television, aside from the reported salary hikes of core characters of many popular TV franchises. In a report of The Hollywood Reporter, Robert de Niro is getting $750,000 per episode for an Amazon production to be directed by director David O. Russell. Another star who belongs to the upper echelon of the celebrity strata is Meryl Streep, who commands a whooping $825,000 per episode pay for a Warner Bros. Miniseries which has not yet landed a network.
This amounts are pretty big considering that these planned shows are still in infancy, which are yet to premiere on its first season. In broadcast, Kiefer Sutherland is receiving $300,000 per episode for ABC's "Designated Survivor", the highest among the five networks for a show on its first year.
But the biggest earners are still the stars of popular and more established shows. The three core stars of CBS's ratings juggernaut "The Big Bang Theory" are still on top, earning $1 million per episode. The Walking Dead actors Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln recently renegotiated to make $550,000 and $650,000 for seasons seven and eight, respectively.
On the other hand, the five main characters of HBO's "Game of Thrones" - Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - have recently concluded their contract negotiation with each receiving $1.1 million per episode for seven episodes of season seven and six episodes of season eight.
While big names are attracting huge pays for their television outings, it can still be said that popular shows make its stars as big money-makers. These huge pays are just reflection of the tightened competition in television with networks all gearing for original programming, and popular shows are trying to hold together its current stars.
