eBay find: Richard Dawson's contract

[Adam Nedeff]

Interesting... and apparently that doesn't include whatever he was paid to do the nighttime syndicated show.

I assume that's because ABC didn't have a hand in the nighttime show. And on that note, I'm surprised that he was employed by ABC directly rather than by G-T/The Family Company. How common was that?

Jim Peck was under contract to ABC in the late 70s. Tom Kennedy was actually the center of a bidding war, under contract first to ABC and then getting snapped up by NBC in 1976. Monty Hall was under CBS contract, which was how he ended up hosting "Beat the Clock" at gunpoint.

What makes Dawson's situation unique is that he was under contract to ABC because G-T fired him. After a difficult renegotiation, G-T notified ABC that they were looking for a new host, and ABC surprised them by signing Richard to the network and then pushing him back to Feud. None of this logically applies to the syndicated version, but my GUESS is G-T figured out that "Family Feud with Richard Dawson" was an easier sale to close than "Family Feud with Player to be Named."

[Matt Ottinger]

Is it pretty safe to say that Richard was commanding the highest salary of anybody in the business by that time?  I seem to remember Chris C saying that Allen Ludden was getting about $5,000 a week for Password Plus, and this dwarfs that.

[Adam Nedeff]

Is it pretty safe to say that Richard was commanding the highest salary of anybody in the business by that time?  I seem to remember Chris C saying that Allen Ludden was getting about $5,000 a week for Password Plus, and this dwarfs that.

I'd say it's a safe bet. During book research Peter Marshall told me that he was making $15,000 a week at his peak for Hollywood Squares.

[calliaume]

Is it pretty safe to say that Richard was commanding the highest salary of anybody in the business by that time?  I seem to remember Chris C saying that Allen Ludden was getting about $5,000 a week for Password Plus, and this dwarfs that.

I'd say it's a safe bet. During book research Peter Marshall told me that he was making $15,000 a week at his peak for Hollywood Squares.

Obviously the longer the show stayed on, the more money to the on-camera talent - much like prime time programming.

Still, that's not as much, even with inflation, as what Sajak, Trebek, Vanna White, or Drew Carey make, all for less work.  This article, surprisingly, seems pretty accurate:  http://thechive.com/2015/06/17/how-much-do-your-favorite-gameshow-hosts-make-anyways-10-photos/.

[tpirfan28]

Jim Peck was under contract to ABC in the late 70s. Tom Kennedy was actually the center of a bidding war, under contract first to ABC and then getting snapped up by NBC in 1976. Monty Hall was under CBS contract, which was how he ended up hosting "Beat the Clock" at gunpoint.

I can match up Peck/ABC and Kennedy/NBC, but why(?) was Hall under CBS contract?  I must be missing an obvious game.

Is it pretty safe to say that Richard was commanding the highest salary of anybody in the business by that time?  I seem to remember Chris C saying that Allen Ludden was getting about $5,000 a week for Password Plus, and this dwarfs that.

I wonder where Bob Barker fell at that time.

[aaron sica]

I wonder where Bob Barker fell at that time.

Probably on top of one of the models.

[Adam Nedeff]

Jim Peck was under contract to ABC in the late 70s. Tom Kennedy was actually the center of a bidding war, under contract first to ABC and then getting snapped up by NBC in 1976. Monty Hall was under CBS contract, which was how he ended up hosting "Beat the Clock" at gunpoint.

I can match up Peck/ABC and Kennedy/NBC, but why(?) was Hall under CBS contract?  I must be missing an obvious game.

Nope. He was under contract because he was a good talent and the network thought they'd have a good use for him. By 1979, they hadn't found anything for him and they needed to get something out of that investment. So they shoved him into "Beat the Clock."

[TLEberle]

Not that they would do this or that it would be a good use of their money, but it also deprives the other networks from using him as well, though It's Anybody's Guess didn't set the world on fire.

[chris319]

Allen made $4,000 per week in 1979, $4,500 in 1980. His contract was with G-T, not NBC.

Dick Martin was making in the neighborhood of $2,500 per week for Mindreaders, again paid by G-T, not NBC.

Jonathan was smart in having Dawson and Barker negotiate their salaries directly with the networks. It got G-T out of the picture and they wouldn't have to figure emcee salaries into the license-fee negotiations.

I'm going out on a limb and saying Gene Rayburn was making around $5,000 per week in the latter days of MG. Adam?

Bill Cullen, guessing $5,000 for Blockbusters and Child's Play.