By Yenyiyani Siegfried
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Over the years, many television shows and sitcoms have been made for our entertainment. While some have garnered a niche fan base, others have turned into money-making engines. The shows that usually generate the most revenue are those with a broader audience and accessible to a person of any age.
While many of these shows have ended, their networks and actors are still making lots of money through reruns and syndication revenues. And other shows, such as The Simpsons and Grey’s Anatomy, are still running and making millions. These shows are the highest-grossing in television history.
15 'NCIS' (2003-)
Created by
NCIS, standing for Navel Criminal Investigative Services, has been on television since September 2003. With over 21 seasons and multiple spin-off series, it's one of the most profitable shows still airing. Through extensive syndication deals, international distribution, and merchandise, NCIS has proved it's worth the investment for CBS.
It's estimated that NCIS earned over $22.4 million over 440 episodes in 2022. Coupled with the multiple spinoff series, such as JAG, which made $11.4, not to mention NCIS: New Orleans, Hawai'i, and Sydney all brought in their own figures. There's no question that NCIS is one of CBS' powerhouse profit earners.
NCIS
TV-14
Crime
Mystery
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 23, 2003
- Cast
- Mark Harmon , sean murray , Wilmer Valderrama , david mccallum , Rocky Carroll , Brian Dietzen
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Seasons
- 22
14 'Survivor' (2000-)
Created by Charlie Parsons
Survivor is one of the most, if not the most, popular reality shows running on television. Pitting contestants against each other in physical and mental challenges is difficult on many levels, but for a show with an average of 8.3 million viewers, Survivor has made its way into one of the highest-grossing shows on television. However, production for the show is higher than most, seeing as they have to get contestants to remote parts of the world, hire staff to set up and tear down challenge courses, and pay the one million dollar prize to the winner, Survivor relies on ad revenue to bolster its success.
Advertisers were paying around $150,000 per 30-second ad slot at the beginning of the series in 2000. Now, more than 40 seasons later, advertisers are spending nearly $700,000 per 30-second ad slot and a single season could pull in over $100 million. All-star seasons could see more than $170 million. There's no question that one of the most popular reality shows is also the most profitable.
Survivor
TV-PG
Adventure
Reality TV
Game Show
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- May 31, 2000
- Cast
- Jeff Probst
- Main Genre
- Reality-TV
- Seasons
- 46
- Studio
- CBS
13 'Game of Thrones' (2011-2019)
Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Based on George R.R. Martin's book series "A Song of Ice and Fire," Game of Thrones quickly became a global phenomenon, reaching the number one most-watched show in the world. Featuring large battles and CGI dragons breathing fire down upon townsfolk, each episode cost around $6 million in production, with a total budget of $1.5 billion.
The show aired on HBO, a subscription-based service, and Game of Thrones alone brought in $3.1 billion from those subscriptions, and a total of $4.4 billion over the 8 seasons on the network. However, the show extended beyond the television and the franchise sold merchandise from board games to videogames, which contributed to the broad financial success of the show.
Game Of Thrones
TV-MA
Adventure
Drama
Fantasy
Action
- Release Date
- April 17, 2011
- Creator
- David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
- Cast
- Peter Dinklage , Lena Headey , Nikolaj Coster-Waldau , Emilia Clarke , Kit Harington , Sophie Turner , Maisie Williams
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 8
12 'Breaking Bad' (2008-2013)
Created by Vince Gilligan
A science teacher discovers he has cancer and goes on a life-altering journey into drugs and gang members. A critical and financial success created by Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad skyrocketed to the top of the charts during its airtime. At its all-time height, the show was making $3 million per episode. AMC was charging $250,000 per 30-second ad slot for the final season with an average of 10.3 million viewers.
Breaking Bad was competing with other AMC shows like Mad Men and The Walking Dead, which were both financial successes in their own right, but none as large as Breaking Bad. Merchandise also contributed heavily to the show's success, with the invention of the iconic blue meth, which became a popular candy, as well as Walter's emblematic Pork Pie Hat.
11 'The X-Files' (1993-2002)
Created by Chris Carter
One of the longest-running Sci-Fi shows on television and a fan favorite, The X-Files earned its place as one of the most profitable shows on television. However, its success isn't riding on TV profits alone, the show also had two feature-length movies created that bolstered its place as one of the highest-grossing tv shows.
Since its inception in 1993, The X-Files has brought in over $500 million in gross revenue over its 9 season run. In 1998 The X-Files movie was released in theaters, grossing over $198 million. The next movie, X-Files: I Want to Believe, grossed only $69 million worldwide, but overall the entire X-Files franchise has brought in over $1 billion through TV shows, movies, books and merchandise, making it one of the highest-grossing shows to every air on television.
The X-Files
TV-14
Sci-Fi
Drama
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 10, 1993
- Cast
- David Duchovny , Gillian Anderson , Mitch Pileggi , William B. Davis
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 11
- Creator
- Chris Carter
10 ‘Two and a Half Men’ (2003-2015)
Created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn
Two and a Half Men is a CBS sitcom that aired for 12 seasons from 2003 to 2015. Charlie Sheen played the leading character for most of the series, but after entering rehabilitation and making derogatory comments about the show’s creator Chuck Lorre, he got kicked out of the show and his contract was terminated. Following this incident, the show replaced Sheen with Ashton Kutcher.
While Sheen was making $1.8 million per episode in the final seasons of his time at the series, Kutcher made less than half per episode, at $700,000. As for the show itself, CBS was selling 30-second ad spots in Two and a Half Men for $200,000 in 2011 (eighth season), which meant that the show grossed $155 million per season in ad revenue alone.
Two and a Half Men
TV-14
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 22, 2003
- Creator
- Lee Aronsohn, Chuck Lorre
- Cast
- Ashton Kutcher , Conchata Ferrell , Amber Tamblyn , Jon Cryer , Angus T. Jones
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 12
- Studio
- CBS
9 ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ (1996-2005)
Created by Philip Rosenthal
Everybody Loves Raymond quickly became a fan-favorite show not long after it premiered on CBS. The show was so popular that in the final two seasons of the show, leading actor Ray Romano made an estimated $1.75 million per episode. However, this struck a chord with the other cast members, who were an equally important part of the show but were only getting paid $160,000 per episode, compared to Romano’s whopping salary.
In response to this, Brad Garrett (who played Robert) and other actors who felt they were unfairly paid, walked out of set. Only after a new settlement of the cast's salary was made did the cast finally agree to come back to work. And although it has been over two decades since the show ended, Romano is reportedly still making $18 million per year through reruns.
Everybody Loves Raymond
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 13, 1996
- Cast
- Ray Romano , Patricia Heaton , Doris Roberts , Peter Boyle , Brad Garrett
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 9
- Network
- CBS
8 ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (2005-)
Created by Shonda Rhimes
With 19 seasons and counting, Grey’s Anatomy holds the record for the longest-running scripted primetime show on ABC and the longest-running scripted medical drama series of all time. It comes as no surprise that the billion-dollar-worth Shondaland series shows no signs of slowing down. When Patrick Dempsey was still on the show, he and Ellen Pompeo were reportedly earning the same salary, but Pompeo believed she should be making more.
Her salary was raised to a reported $575,000 per episode after Dempsey walked away from the show. In 2019, Pompeo earned $22 million and an additional $6 - $7 million from backend equity points. But when compared to how much Grey’s Anatomy has generated for Disney+ (nearly $3 billion), it’s only fair that Pompeo and the other cast members get paid millions for being the stars of the show.
Grey's Anatomy
TV-14
Drama
- Release Date
- March 27, 2005
- Cast
- Ellen Pompeo , James Pickens Jr. , Chandra Wilson , Justin Chambers , Kevin McKidd , Jesse Williams , Patrick Dempsey
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 20
7 ‘Seinfeld’ (1989-1998)
Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld
Seinfeld is undoubtedly one of the most successful sitcoms to date. When it aired its final episode in 1998, around 76.3 million people tuned in to watch, which according to The New York Times, made it the third most-watched finale in television history. Co-creator and star of the show Jerry Seinfeld became the first television actor to earn $1 million per episode, way before the cast of Friends earned that same amount in the early 2000s.
In terms of syndication, streaming rights, and merchandise, co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David initially kept 7.5% each of whatever the show earned. But as the show continued to gain popularity, they negotiated that figure to double, at 15% each. It is estimated that Seinfeld and David both still earn between $40 million and $60 million from the show's reruns each year.
Seinfeld
TV-PG
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- July 5, 1989
- Cast
- Jerry Seinfeld , Jason Alexander , Michael Richards , Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 9
- Creator
- Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld
- Studio
6 ‘Frasier’ (1993-2004)
Created by David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee
Frasier is a spin-off of the sitcom Cheers, which follows the psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), who returns to Seattle as a radio show host. The show went on to be one of the most successful and well-liked spin-off series in history, and it ran for 11 seasons (264 episodes).
In 2005, a year after Frasier ended, the show had grossed more than $1.5 billion in revenues, of which $830 million were from licensing fees. In 2011, Netflix paid CBS $200 million to stream Frasier and other popular CBS shows, such as Cheers, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and Family Ties, for two years.
Frasier
TV-PG
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 16, 1993
- Creator
- David Angell, Peter Casey, Glen Charles, David Lee
- Cast
- Kelsey Grammer , David Hyde Pierce , Jane Leeves , Peri Gilpin , John Mahoney
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 11
- Network
- NBC
5 ‘Cheers’ (1982-1993)
Created by Glenn and Les Charles and James Burrows
Before production companies sold syndication rights to other networks and channels, such things didn’t really exist or were really rare. According to Los Angeles Times,Cheers has always been a costly show to make, costing Paramount $2.2 million per episode, and its widely popular cast, such as Ted Danson, earned $450,000 per episode. But as Cheers attracted many viewers and were NBC’s most valuable show, they couldn’t afford to lose the show even though Paramount was losing more than $25 million annually in production costs.
In 1991, NBC earned an average of $330,000 per 30-second ad during the show, which amounted to $2.6 million per episode, so $115 million annually in ad revenues. Three decades later, the Cheers cast is still worth millions thanks to royalties and syndication earnings.
Cheers
TV-PG
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 30, 1982
- Cast
- Ted Danson , Kirstie Alley , Rhea Perlman , John Ratzenberger , George Wendt , Kelsey Grammer , Woody Harrelson , Bebe Neuwirth
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 11
- Creator
- James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles
4 ‘The Big Bang Theory’ (2007-2019)
Created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady
In 2019, the longest-running multi-camera comedy series in TV history, The Big Bang Theory, ended its 12-season run. The sitcom stars were said to have earned nearly $1 million per episode by the final seasons of the show. In 2017, the five main stars of the show decided to take pay cuts of $100,000 each so that their co-stars, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, who earned $100,000 compared to their $1 million per episode, would get a pay rise.
CBS was earning $125 million - $150 million per season just from ad revenues, and the show’s distributor Warner Bros. earned $1 billion through syndication revenues. The show and cast members would also generate more income through merchandise and future syndication revenues as well.
The Big Bang Theory
TV-PG
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 24, 2007
- Cast
- Johnny Galecki , Jim Parsons , Kaley Cuoco , Simon Helberg , Kunal Nayyar , Melissa Rauch , Mayim Bialik , Kevin Sussman
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 12
- Creator
- Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady
3 ‘Modern Family’ (2009-2020)
Created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan
Throughout 11 seasons, Modern Family became a widely beloved family sitcom show worldwide. The grown-up cast members such as Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson were earning an estimated $65,000 per episode in the first season and bumped up to half a million dollars in the last season. As for the younger cast, namely Rico Rodriguez, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, and Nolan Gould, those figures started at $15,000 per episode and ended at $125,000 per episode.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the USA Network purchased syndication rights for the show in 2010, valued at $1.8 million per episode. In 2021, Hulu and NBCUniversal’s Peaco*ck also announced its streaming rights for the show’s 250 episodes to be shown on their platforms.
Modern Family
TV-PG
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 23, 2009
- Cast
- Ed O'Neill , Sofia Vergara , Julie Bowen , Ty Burrell , Jesse Tyler Ferguson , Eric Stonestreet , Sarah Hyland , Ariel Winter
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 11
- Studio
- ABC
2 ‘Friends’ (1994-2004)
Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman
Although Friends ended its 10-season run in 2004, many still regularly watch it and consider it one of the best sitcoms ever. The stars were already earning a modest $22,500 per episode in the first season, but its popularity changed those earnings to $1 million per episode in the last two years of its run. These figures made Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow the highest-paid actresses of the time.
Forbes estimated the cast has collectively earned $816 million and at least $550 million for the executive producers Marta Kauffman, David Crane, and Kevin S. Bright. Overall, the show has generated an estimated $1.4 billion in earnings for its stars and creators since its 1994 debut and $4.8 billion for its production company, Warner Bros.
Friends
TV-14
Romance
Sitcom
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- September 22, 1994
- Cast
- Jennifer Aniston , Courteney Cox , Lisa Kudrow , Matt LeBlanc , Matthew Perry , David Schwimmer
- Main Genre
- Sitcom
- Seasons
- 10
- Studio
1 ‘The Simpsons’ (1989-)
Created by Matt Groening
Since the beginning of its run in 1989, The Simpsons have had 35 seasons and 740 episodes, making it the longest-running American animated series, the longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series of all time. Although an animated series, The Simpsons uses its humor to touch on social and political issues in the United States and the world.
According to Variety, in 2013, Twentieth Century Fox TV and Twentieth TV sold the first-ever cable syndication and VOD sale of the animated series to FXX and FXNow for more than $750 million. In 2007, the release of The Simpsons Movie alone grossed over $527 million. Apart from the television and film franchise, The Simpsons has also made millions of dollars through merchandise.
The Simpsons
TV-14
Comedy
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- December 17, 1989
- Cast
- Dan Castellaneta , Julie Kavner , Nancy Cartwright , Yeardley Smith , Hank Azaria , Harry Shearer
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 36
- Studio
- Fox
KEEP READING:A History of the Highest-Grossing Film of All Time, From 'Jaws' to 'Avatar'
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- Television
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