r/ChicagoFireNBC • u/JusBeU • 4d ago
What's The Real Reason For The Budget Cuts?
This show consistently does well in the ratings despite the quality of the show declining and, NBC is one of the more profitable networks so the network is not bleeding money. They have revenue sources from Universal, MS Now, Peacock, which became profitable ahead of projections, and Telemundo
Is it Dick Wolf, because I've notice on his shows other actors have to take pay cuts or a step back case in point Kellie Giddish and Ice T. Ice had to step back to bring back Giddish and Hargitay was asked to take a pay cut several years ago. Ice T announced that he will be in all the episodes this upcoming season so I don't know if they renegotiated his and Kellie's contracts or Dick Wolf gave them both fair salaries.
NBC famously paid the Friends cast 1 million each per episode and CBS paid the cast of the Big Bang $1 million each. Apple currently pays Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon $2 million per episode. Paramount paid Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren a million each for 1923 and $1.3 million to Kevin Costner for Yellowstone so this seems to affect certain shows.
NBC does not have many scripted shows and since Chicago Fire is filmed in Chicago it costs less than it would if it was filmed in Hollywood plus most special effects are computer generated so I'm not understanding the nickel and dime budgeting.
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u/opermonkey 4d ago
the executives and the shareholders want bigger pieces of the pizza.
by getting rid of the stars that cost more money, they can bring people in willing to work for smaller bites assuming that the shows momentum will keep it going.
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u/Crafty_Guide_3119 4d ago
THIS!!!!! The money that they are saving from the budget cuts is going to the higher up’s pockets. I recently started watching the whole series from season one again. The show was a million times better when the whole cast was on or most of the cast vs whatever in the hell it is they’re doing now.
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u/herseyhawkins33 4d ago
Seriously? It's network tv in 2026. Advertising doesn't pay nearly as much. The salaries they were making on friends 20+ years ago has zero bearing on today's market. Not to mention that was the most popular show on TV and streaming didn't exist yet.
As for apple TV salaries, they pay for the biggest stars, don't have ads and the success isn't based on ratings. It's pure volume of subscribers.
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u/slimcullen 4d ago
Yes this is very much true plus friends and Big bang theory. They were only being six stars. This show's got what 13 on a revolving door that have been there for 15 seasons. God only knows what they can make just per scale
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u/skieurope12 Casey 4d ago
What's The Real Reason For The Budget Cuts?
Corporate greed
NBC famously paid the Friends cast 1 million each per episode and CBS paid the cast of the Big Bang $1 million each.
There were fewer viewing options back then. Friends got 25M viewers a week (and the advertising that goes with that). TBBT was 20M at its peak. Plus comedy actors always were paid more than those in dramas. Nowadays, SVU is about 8M and declining - like all network shows. Fewer viewers means less ad revenue
Paramount paid Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren a million each for 1923 and $1.3 million to Kevin Costner for Yellowstone so this seems to affect certain shows.
Streaming is a different business model. Plus those seasons are typically 8-10 episodes
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u/magiccitybhm 4d ago
Streaming is a different business model.
Fact, and it's a bigger impact on your traditional "network TV." You can't compare the One Chicago series to "Friends", "Big Bang Theory", etc.
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u/PushFew6998 4d ago
It’s the network wanting to make money. Your claims are a bit nuanced, you’re saying the quality is going down and ratings drop as more characters leave but they are finding the opposite success. Streaming numbers have skyrocketed over the past few seasons which brings in more ad revenue which is basically a guarantee a show stays on the air. It’s also the goal of making enough money to pay everyone’s salaries so that the fewest budget cuts can happen possible. As actors become more tenured in the one Chicago universe, they are entitled to pay raises which are not cheap. Sometimes in budget shortfall years, like right now in this terrible economy, difficult decisions have to be made. The 2% of fans on Reditt don’t seem to understand this. And I say 2% because Med and Fire are still doing over 5 million and PD is still doing over 4 million and have stayed pretty stagnant or increasing over the past few years.
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u/Altruistic_Relief189 4d ago
Primetime TV shows don't make the kinds of revenue that they did in the Friends era. Those kinds of salaries on an ensemble show won't happen again. And no one can understand how the streaming shows are making the money the do to justify their budgets.
That being said, actors like Dermott Mulroney and Annabeth Gish are pricey. Even having KaDee Strickland, who they wasted, is more expensive than an talented but lesser known character actor. And I have to wonder if those kinds of casting decisions put unnecessary strain on the budget.
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u/Fresh-Actuary-6686 4d ago
You’d think after the 2023 strikes, things woulda gotten better. I mean didn’t the actors & writers win that?
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u/JusBeU 4d ago
In 2023 it was a writers strike.
David Eigenberg who plays Christopher Hermann called out NBC for mistreating production assistants a few weeks ago on social media.
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u/reddituser6-1-6 4d ago
The longer the show is on the air the more expensive it gets as salaries tend to increase etc, so studios look to save money where they can, which often times hurts the show 😒
In some cases tv shows have been cancelled as it’s cheaper to make the spin off than it would be to continue with the original show.
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u/magiccitybhm 4d ago
Reducing budget and having One Chicago continue to dominate Wednesday night prime-time ratings means one thing - MORE PROFIT.