menuBarBack
Beam Up News | Join | Your Account
Home
Advanced Search
boxBottom
News Tribblets
boxBottom
Stardates Calendar
News Story

Features

TV Guide: Paramount Cut ENT Price Tag in Half to Secure Fourth Season on UPN

Features

By BWilliams / 17:23, 14 June 2004 / Enterprise

The license fee for the upcoming fourth season of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE will be substantially cut, according to a report from TV Guide.

The report, which will appear in the June 20-26 edition of TV Guide, cites industry sources as reporting that Paramount renewed ENTERPRISE, which had struggled in the ratings during its third season, on the offer that the fee UPN pays would be reduced from $1.7 million per episode to $800,000 per episode.

UPN is moving ENTERPRISE from its Wednesday night time slot, replacing the series with AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, followed by the new series KEVIN HILL. ENTERPRISE is currently scheduled to air on Friday nights at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, where UPN's ratings have been extremely poor. Paramount has sought a fourth season of ENTERPRISE in an attempt to secure syndication rights, according to the piece. In addition, TV Guide suggests that Paramount's merchandising income may have been a significant incentive to renew the show.

"STAR TREK video games, books, doll and other collectibles ring up about $200 million a year in retail sales, bringing in royalties of $20 million to Paramount," writes the magazine's Stephen Battagilo. "When Adams Media Research ranked the 50 all-time best-selling TV show DVD box sets last year, nine were collections of STAR TREK seasons-selling at $129 and $139 a pop and each putting more than $4 million in the studios coffers."

Although the magazine offers no word on the actual budget for the series, cutting the fee for each episode by half could mean a lot less money to spread around. Creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga surely take a hefty fee for each episode, but with Braga stepping back from his show running position, Paramount may be saving on at least one of their salaries. Whether star Scott Bakula or any of the other actors will be receiving a pay cut has not been announced. There could also be a lot less of the award-winning visual effects and production work that have brought home the show's only Emmy accolades.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com and TrekWeb for the latest news on ENTERPRISE's fourth season. Thanks to 'Craig Morris' for the transcript.



More Top StoriesComments
Nov 23J.J. Abrams and Chris Pine Talk How Gratifying That Star Trek was Well Received, Working with Leonard Nimoy and Star Trek XII0
Nov 23Chuck returns to NBC with a special two-hour show on Sunday, Jan 10, 2010, before returning to its regular time slot, Mondays at 8pm on the following night. It's return to prime time television can be attributed to a successful fan renewnal campaign last year. CHUCK is a one-hour, action-comedy series that follows Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, "Less Than Perfect") -- a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent. This upcoming season will include some special guest stars, including Brandon Routh of "Superman Returns" who will play CIA agent Daniel Shaw in an episode, and the addition of SUBWAY restaurant as a major advertiser to the show. Chuck averaged a 4.0/6 rating last season, about eight percent better than the recently cancelled "Trauma". Ratings-challenged Heroes moves back an hour when Chuck returns on Monday nights. STAR TREK VOYAGER's Robert Duncan McNeill serves Chuck as a supervising producer and director.0
Nov 235-Page Preview of Third Issue of Galactica 1980 Comic Book  0
Nov 22Quinto, Urban, Saldana, Cho and Greenwood on Their Hopes for Star Trek XII3
Nov 22Exclusive Digital Content Now Available With New Star Trek Movie on iTunes
1
Story Archives...Browse:   
ENTERPRISE Mission Schedule | Logs by Season: 1 2 3 4
Episode Number Title Airdate

Talkback

31 comments Post New | Help
View:

RE: Fees, Syndication and Effects | Report this post to moderator
By: Gene's Ghost (Odo's file, contact) @ 21:50:02 on Jun 14, 2004

Oops! Someone already said this... so uh.... it's too bad they didn't kill Archer in the season finale, they woulda saved a bunch more cash, I bet.

But then again, if they cancelled the show, they coulda saved even more.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

--------

PAY ATTENTION! Listen to DemocracyNow! , AirAmericaRadio and CrooksandLiars - Where the REAL truth hurts everyone!

Reply
Reply
Quote
Quote
Parent
Parent
Talkback Top
Top
Promenade










TrekWeb Merchants
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.ca
Amazon.de
Barnes & Noble

Get Firefox!
Privacy Policy | About Us | Legal Notice | Contact Us | | Get Firefox!
© 1996-2009 TrekWeb.com and Steve Krutzler. All rights reserved.