A game show budget is divided into three basic categories. Like all TV and motion picture productions, the above-the-line budget covers talent, producers, directors, writers, researchers, contestant coordinators, music and other related job categories. The below-the-line budget covers engineering and staging (I imagine it also covers travel and transportation) as well as things like hair, make-up and wardrobe. The below-the-line budget covers studio space, all technical personnel and equipment (the equipment is basically rented from the facility) such as cameras, audio, servers (formerly videotape), lighting, editing, stage managers, stagehands (TPIR has an army of stagehands just to move prizes and games in and out), game board and scoreboard operators. For game shows there is also a separate prize budget.
It's difficult to determine how much it costs to produce a show without knowing above-the-line salaries. Unless you know someone on the inside who has access to that information, outsiders are not going to know, for example, how much Harry Friedman makes (I know how much Allen Ludden, Gene Wood and our celebrities made because I've seen the checks).
I don't think taking a show on the road saves them money because not only do they have to pay for the facilities they use, they also have to transport the set and all the special effects equipment as well as pay everyone's travel expenses and accomodations. Even if they get a deal from a big Las Vegas hotel/casino, they would have to get a sweet enough deal to cover all of these ancillary expenses. I've never understood how it was cheaper to shoot in Las Vegas or Canada given the travel expenses involved.
Brian Conn, can you add anything to this?
