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Price is Right/ Announcer Salaries

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chris319:
Johnny O. was nuts.

Using $1,280 as the one-day figure for announcer scale in 1979, if he was taping TPIR 3 days per week and MG every other weekend he averaged four taping days per week for a weekly salary of $5,120. If those shows taped, say, 46 weeks per year he was making around $235,000 per year. That's a very healthy salary for 1979 and is probably on par with the G-T producers and directors. Adjusted for inflation he would be making almost $600,000 per year today. What we don't know is whether Johnny got a Xmas bonus from Goodson -- possibly not. The point is, Johnny could have asked for double scale or more and Goodson would have paid it.

Barker, OTOH, rakes it in like autumn leaves. He gets an emcee salary, an E.P. salary, and he costs CBS a fortune with that extra taping day which I estimate costs somewhere in the upper six figures per year.

Matt Ottinger:

--- Quote ---On the other hand, Johnny O had NO agent and never asked for a penny more than scale (and never got it, from everything I've heard).
--- End quote ---
That's the most extraordinary example yet of what a different time it was in the 60s and 70s for game shows.  To think that the greatest announcer ever was perfectly happy making scale because he *knew* that he'd be protected by his company and that he'd never lack for work.  Amazing.

Of course, that raises another question.  If you're Goodson, how do you justify paying ANY announcer above scale when your #1 guy isn't asking for more?  I don't think I would have wanted to be Gene Wood's agent, for example.

tvrandywest:
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 19 2003, 09:31 AM\']If you're Goodson, how do you justify paying ANY announcer above scale when your #1 guy isn't asking for more?  I don't think I would have wanted to be Gene Wood's agent, for example.[/quote]

Great point. Indeed, Gene never shook any significant above-scale bucks from Goodson. And while Johnny's philosophy kept a full plate of employment before him until his death (how many other 75 year olds are still fully employed and going strong at that age) it did have a negative side effect.

While EVERYBODY who worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Johnny held him in the highest regard, Mr. Goodson never had a great deal of respect for Johnny. The two times I had relaxed, one-on-one opportune moments to ask Mark Goodson about Johnny and their relationship I received some slightly harsh and quite dismissive responses.

Some have conjectured that Goodson's attitude was less about Johnny himself, and more about Goodson's own very brief and limited announcing career. Who's to say.

The truth isn't always lovely, especially in the television biz.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

chris319:
Mr. Goodson never had a great deal of respect for Johnny. The two times I had relaxed, one-on-one opportune moments to ask Mark Goodson about Johnny and their relationship I received some slightly harsh and quite dismissive responses.

Well maybe that shoots the notion that Johnny could have commanded above-scale from Goodson. Still, the notion that Johnny made scale while Barker was so vastly overcompensated is irksome. I can't imagine why Goodson would be harsh and dismissive when Johnny added so much to his shows in terms of both announcing and warm-ups, and that he employed John continuously for so many years.

Frank Wayne used to have some choice comments for Goodson, often made to his face! Yet Goodson rewarded him with near-continuous employment and six-figure Xmas bonuses.

tvrandywest:
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jun 22 2003, 01:52 AM\']Well maybe that shoots the notion that Johnny could have commanded above-scale from Goodson...
... Frank Wayne used to have some choice comments for Goodson, often made to his face! Yet Goodson rewarded him with near-continuous employment and six-figure Xmas bonuses.[/quote]
And there, dear friend, lies the irony that was (imho) the relationship between Mr. Goodson and the majority of his most valuable players, Johnny included.

Your Frank Wayne observation jives with both the first-person accounts of folks like Bob Stewart (an amazing story) and the anecdotal reports of Goodson's relationships with even his most valued hosts.

Goodson was a most complex man. The nature of these relationships is only the tip of the iceberg. And like most bergs, 90% of this one should remain invisible, at least for the purposes of this board!


Randy
tvrandywest.com

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