The mic was accidentally left on and some details about the inner workings of TWiT came out. It seems they gave the WW hosts a raise and MJ thanked TWiT and made a lighthearted comment comparing the show’s pay to what she gets per article. The comment was relayed to #Soup and this is what was overheard.
Here comes the shocking part. This is the craziest thing I have ever seen or heard. I think Leo told the truth. WW gets about 60,000 DL and at 70CPM that is $4,200 per ad. They average about two ads per show so they make a about $8,400 a show. Paul and MJ get about $420 an episode (each) which is about 10%.
I do not have the where-with-all to go into if 10% of gross is fair or if this is true regarding other shows. Nor will I delve into what happened when Gina quit, did Jeff get a raise? I do not know how they handle three hosts vs two host split. Nor did I compare it to the quote that IPT costs 400K over 3 years.
I am in shock.
I think 500 bucks for a few hours of time is good money. Let’s not forget that this show is an Internet show. On the Web. Not television. Not radio. These are people skilled in the field, but they are hardly superstars.
And when Gina quit, I’m sure that old man Jarvis didn’t get any of her money nor should he. Why not? Because he’s such a dick.
Holden» Quote comment
They have to prepare and they make a commitment to be there every week and the hosts prepare the stories and it is longer than an hour show and there is always a pre/post show and leo is always late. The show would do well without Leo but would be nothing without Paul and Mary, the only thing they need leo for is he knows how to do the ads.
John Doe» Quote comment
Ads can be recorded. Leo is not needed. Let Paul and MJ host the show on their own.
Zon» Quote comment
So what you are really saying is that the cost associated with the brickhouse is screwing the host?
And on a personal note also are screwing the fake employees…
It’s like that place is cursed.
Hilton Goring» Quote comment
WW has at least 2 ads per show, but it is often 3, so they are getting short changed over the course of a year (based only on Leo’s 10% gross revenue going the host remark). I just don’t believe Lisa would give that much to ‘talent’ unless that person was named Leo.
Larry» Quote comment
I wonder what regular Macbreak guests like Rene Ritchie and Andy Inhatko get? Besides the chance bask in Leo’s radiant personality….
Joeblow» Quote comment
So how come nsfw only got 175 per show? Low download Numbers? Because the had quite a few ads.
DTO» Quote comment
We have NSFW at between 8K downloads per show. They may have averaged 2-3 ads per show, my memory is not what it was when I was a younger man. Keep in mind, they also keep costs down by no editing and no Leo on NSFW.
Richard Yes» Quote comment
I’m sure Leo subscribes to the theory of paying what the market may bear. Aren’t both of them writers and publish columns, etc.? Then they really don’t need to prep on the show’s topics since WW is not their only income. and they do it for their other jobs.
Again, as a contractor, $500 for maybe 2 hours of work where they can plug their other pursuits seems fair to me.
Holden» Quote comment
NFSW’s cost per thousand was probably way lower than WW.
Holden» Quote comment
I don’t think they change the CPM much between shows. They do make company wide adjustments if no one is buying ads. They negotiate bulk buys and other stuff.
The main way they rip off hosts is that they sell Leo’s show first if someone has a limited spending amount.
Richard Yes» Quote comment
Not sure but WW hosts would be 1099 sub-contractors. Say both hosts have LLCs which is common. At a tax rate of +or- 15% of the $450 say $70 bucks in taxes. The pay sucks for 2 hours of weekly obligation. If they only could calculate how much the damage was being seen with Leo harmed their credibility as a tech journalist.
Paul is a mercenary soon to market a personal brand of coffee and cups. Mary Jo just want beer money for research.
Norse Viking» Quote comment
Good point, Norse, but no one is holding a gun to their heads to stay in those jobs. They can certainly quit if they like.
Holden» Quote comment
Every company I ever worked for on commission was 20% to start.
Mark Harry» Quote comment
You made 20% commission on the profit on the sale. Not 20% of the Gross. Leo mentioned that the percentage would be higher if it was on the net.
Mike» Quote comment
Where’s “Marion been?
John the third» Quote comment
$450 . $1,800 month. $21,600 pre taxes per year… to be a TWIT star. Seems underpaid. I wonder what the guys on AAA make, since it seems to be their most downloaded show apparently.
hehehe» Quote comment
AAA does well but not as well as you may have assumed. The audience charts need to be adjusted for the platform. Ifive will show up high on iTunes and low on stitcher and the opposite is true for AAA. There are other issues with all the charts. It is a long algorithm to get the DL numbers.
Richard Yes» Quote comment
I wasn’t clear on if it was 10% per host of 10% for all hosts. If it’s 10% for a group then All About Android and MacBreak weekly must pay pennies.
Does Leo get the 10% too? that’s not quite fair considering he draws a healthy salary from TWIT.
JW» Quote comment
@hehehe. It’s TWO HOURS per week!!!!
It’s great money, plus they get to plug their other projects.
Holden» Quote comment