"Royalties" question about GSN reruns...

[tvmitch]

The subject says it all. Something I was curious about, thinking about watching the Double Dare episode I DVRed the previous evening.

When GSN reruns an episode of a show, let's say Body Language, does Tom Kennedy get a check? Flat fee or per episode that airs? What system is in place as far as money for reruns in general?

[Ian Wallis]

I realize nobody may know this for sure, but I've recently wondered about the celebrities.  Let's say Jamie Farr pops up on a Super Password rerun, does he get a residual, or would it depend on the contract that was originally signed when he appeared?  I know that the composers of the theme songs, etc. get royalties.  Interesting topic.

[Terry K]

One of the interviews that Brett gave about MG once said she didn't get an _____ dime from MG reruns.

[goongas]

While looking at Dick DeBartolo's site to see old Match Game question cards, I kept scrolling, and he says he was paid a dollar a change from Mark Goodson Productions in GSN royalties for his writing work on Match Game, and about a quarter for his writing work on Family Feud.

[chris319]

In order to collect royalties you must own the underlying property. This would apply to music which is owned by one of the music publishing companies set up upon the sale of MGP. Everyone else gets residual payments. Anyone who belonged to a union which provides for residual payments, such as AFTRA (the talent guild) or the Directors' Guild, would receive residuals.

Brett and the other regular panelists on MG were under personal services contracts which may have granted them nothing in terms of residuals (in the '70s no one thought game shows had any rerun value) in exchange for being paid $250,000 per year. Johnny Olson's estate may receive residuals as he was merely a daily-hire worker. The other panelists not under contract to G-T (e.g. Betty White) may receive residuals for their appearances on MG. Betty presumably also receives residuals not only for her own appearances on Password and Password Plus, but if she is an heiress to Allen Ludden's estate, receives residual payments for his appearances on P and P+. I don't know about Gene Rayburn's deal, but I do know that a certain talent agent negotiated substantial increases in residuals for emcees (at the behest of Ann Cullen) when GSN started up.

The other person who stands to receive residuals from game show reruns is the director. If their Directors' Guild contracts applied to cable, Paul Alter and Marc Breslow still have an income stream from all of the shows they directed over the years which are rerun on GSN.

Everyone else gets zero in the way of residuals, including producers and non-Guild writers. Ira Skutch gets zero for each episode of MG rerun on GSN, but gets a payment for each episode of Blockbusters he directed. The payment is only for directing, not for being E.P.

So yes, presumably Tom Kennedy and Jamie Farr receive residuals for their appearances.

[Matt Ottinger]

Very helpful, Chris.  The other question, of course, is how MUCH these people are getting for their 21st century appearances.  We've seen Dick DeBartolo's miniscule checks on his website, and there were stories about Soupy Sales being disappointed by the tiny payments he got for his WML? appearances.  At some point, it doesn't seem to be worth the bookkeeping and postage to even bother.  It seems unlikely that anybody, not even the hosts, would have negotiated a contract asking for significant residual payments for something they thought would never be rerun, so is everybody receiving pennies except the ones who know Mr. Wostbrock?

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'165416\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 10:58 AM\']
We've seen Dick DeBartolo's miniscule checks on his website, and there were stories about Soupy Sales being disappointed by the tiny payments he got for his WML? appearances.  
[/quote]

Soupy's disappointed? Geez, the contestants didn't even get the 50 bucks they'd win in 1956!

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'165519\' date=\'Oct 4 2007, 12:09 PM\']
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'165416\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 10:58 AM\']
We've seen Dick DeBartolo's miniscule checks on his website, and there were stories about Soupy Sales being disappointed by the tiny payments he got for his WML? appearances.  
[/quote]

Soupy's disappointed? Geez, the contestants didn't even get the 50 bucks they'd win in 1956!
[/quote]

But they got lovely Sarah Coventry jewelry, St. Mary's sheets and towels and American Tourister luggage.  

[chris319]

The way it was explained to me, Fred negotiated higher rates for all of the emcees (except Chuck Henry of course), not just his clients. I'm told this money came along just in time for Gene Rayburn. Though he was living comfortably on his AFTRA pension, there were other "issues" involved. If you want to know how much they receive in dollars and cents, you'll have to ask someone else.

Goodson's writers were non-Guild, thus their residual checks (if any) look like the one Dick DeBartolo posted. I don't know what kind of residuals Guild writers get. I know how much I get for being the first G-T employee to present the underlying concepts behind "Switch?" and "Line 'Em Up".