The rates are lower for half-hour shows, of course, and lower still if the announcer has ten lines or less.
Does that mean that the Pyramid announcer gets paid more if the secret six is won?
Yea, by necessity, the AFTRA code is a long, complicated series of documents (like my posts ;-) ... and this discussion is only about announcers (not hosts, models, stunt pilots, singers, dancers, commentators, sportscasters, puppeteers, etc.), and only about televison programs (not radio programs or commercials, TV commercials, promos, educational video, infomercials, music videos, sound recordings/CDs, home video, in-store video, etc.)!
Performers only have the protections and compensation minimums because of the courageous efforts of many past SAG and AFTRA members who put their careers on the line for their fellow performers when talent was being unfairly exploited. Did you know that the dancers in many movie musicals of the 1930s worked 18 hour days and danced until they dropped from exhaustion or the blood in their shoes leaked and ruined a take? The unions have a wonderful history that includes many great stories about people like Frank Nelson (The \"Yeeeeessssss, Mrs. Ricardo\" / Freddy Filmore character actor from \"I Love Lucy\") who was instrumental in the creation of the entire concept of \"residuals\" for when re-runs create a new stream of money for the owners of past performances.
To your Pyramid question...
As discussed before, \"scale\" is the minimum payment for a union show. Indeed,
IF the announcer on a show (such as Pyramid) were paid the bare minimum,
AND many episodes featured less than 10 lines (a \"line\" is generally a sentence, but in flowing prose in generally interpretted to equal 10 words),
AND an entire calendar week of shows were taped on a single day, the gig would be far less rewarding than anyone would imagine. And yes, in this hypothetical case, episodes in which the announcer has over 10 lines would be compensated at a higher rate.
Actual salaries and the terms of individual deals vary widely, and may bear little resemblence to minimum (scale) compensation. Your mileage may vary, use as directed, pre-cooked weight, batteries not included, member FDIC, void where prohibited, portions of the program not affecting the outcome of the game have been edited for broadcast, in the course of briefings actual questions may be discerned by the celebrities, subject to availabilty, close cover before striking. ;-)
Randy
tvrandywest.com
