Acquired
02:57:41 · David Rosenthal, Ben Gilbert
[02:57:41] S1: Sure making that, decision at Christmas time for Jerry go down a lot easier here when the second syndication cycle happens, which brings us to the finale of the show. I think the thing that people don't realize about the Seinfeld finale and that I didn't realize until doing this research was that it's a thank you. It's a thank you to all the guest stars that made Seinfeld what it was over the years. [02:58:12] S0: Yeah. So what is the finale? For those who haven't seen it or those who don't remember, on 05/14/1998, they aired a special extended episode. They brought back Larry David to write it. He had been doing other projects for the last two years. And the the gang is put on trial for some sort of new [02:58:33] S1: law Violating the Good Samaritan laws. [02:58:36] S0: Where they watch someone get held up in a carjacking, and they do not intervene to help. And they are bringing in dozens of past guest stars as character witnesses to attest to if these people are good people or not, which is just so perfect for the, theme of the show. But when you're watching it, you kinda do think this might be a little excessive. [02:59:00] S1: Yeah. Yeah. [02:59:01] S0: This might be a little much. And the way it ends, spoiler alert, so, like, stop this episode right now if you care about not knowing how Seinfeld ends. They are convicted and go to jail for violating this Good Samaritan law because the parade of Seinfeld guest stars over the years paint this very clear cut case that these are not good people. [02:59:23] S1: Yeah.
02:59:23 · David Rosenthal, Ben Gilbert
[02:59:23] S1: Yeah. [02:59:23] S0: It's perfect and poetic. And also at the same time, I completely get the public outrage at how much they didn't like it and how much they hate that these characters just all end up going to jail as the end of the episode. [02:59:37] S1: Yeah. Yeah. The fact that nobody likes it doesn't really matter. If anything, it maybe kinda adds to the lore of the show because it's the ultimate... No. There's no there's no point. Nobody learns anything. There's no development. Yes. So much so that we're not even gonna give you a satisfying finale. [02:59:53] S0: And yet, it is watched by 76,300,000 viewers, which is 58% of all viewers that night. The finale ad rates eclipse the Super Bowl. So NBC sold thirty second spots for as much as $2,000,000. This is back in 1998. That is, about 54% more than the $1,300,000 you would pay for the same thirty second advertisement during the nineteen ninety eight Super Bowl. [03:00:23] S1: Yeah. One of the advertisers during the finale is Apple, which is in the middle of their Think Different campaign. That's right. And they run a special commercial where they add Jerry At the end. To the think different campaign. [03:00:39] S0: He is the final [03:00:40] S1: Yeah. [03:00:41] S0: Black and white person that flashes up on the screen, and it's the only time they ever ran the think different with Jerry in there. [03:00:47] S1: Yep. So good.
03:00:47 · David Rosenthal, Ben Gilbert
[03:00:47] S1: Yep. So good. [03:00:48] S0: Interestingly, this was not the highest or really even, like, close to the highest watched finale ever. MASH, Cheers, and The Fugitive were much higher numbers in their finale. But to me, the interesting thing is I've never watched a single episode of any of those shows, and no one's paying anything to get the streaming rights to them now. Yep. They're not relevant. They didn't transcend generations, and there's something very, very interesting and intrinsic about Seinfeld that made it last. Even though on the highest day of heat and light and attention on them, they actually weren't the biggest finale ever. [03:01:32] S1: Yep. And audience reception wise, the finale was not loved, at least. But, again, it doesn't matter. [03:01:39] S0: And to put a perfect comedic button on it, the joke that Jerry makes in the jail cell is the joke that opened the pilot where they are talking about the second button on the shirt Yes. Even while they're sitting there in jail. And then the last perfect little piece of comedy is, David, did you watch the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale two years ago, maybe 2024? [03:02:01] S1: No. No. I I did not, but I did watch the the Seinfeld reunion on Curb.
03:02:01 · David Rosenthal, Ben Gilbert
[03:02:01] S1: No. No. I I did not, but I did watch the the Seinfeld reunion on Curb. [03:02:05] S0: Oh, yeah. Everyone should know that, on Curb, they did a arc of four or five episodes that were fictional Larry David planning the Seinfeld reunion. In the finale, again, spoiler alert, if you've never seen the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale, give you three seconds to pause. The finale is a trial, just like Seinfeld. Larry gets convicted. Larry goes to jail. He's sitting in the jail cell, and someone walks in, and he has a visitor. And it's Jerry Seinfeld, and he opens up the door and he says, hey, Turns out it's a mistrial, but, you don't wanna end up here. This isn't where it ends. You don't want this. Trust me. Nobody wants this. [03:02:52] S1: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [03:02:53] S0: And it's a twenty five year payoff from a joke that was set up in 1998. [03:03:00] S1: So good. So good. I I have seen that clip. So good. Alright. So I think let's put a bow on the economics of Seinfeld's first run on NBC. [03:03:10] S0: Ignoring all syndication. No syndication, just [03:03:12] S1: the first run business for NBC. NBC in total made about $2,000,000,000 in cumulative advertising profit from Seinfeld during its run. But again, that vastly undercounts the actual value to NBC because of the dynamics of, well, you can't buy Seinfeld. You gotta buy Yep. Primetime, etcetera etcetera. [03:03:33] S0: But no ownership because they rented it. [03:03:35] S1: Yep. Castle Rock takes a loss on the show by design. That's right. By design, they lose money on nine years of Seinfeld.
03:03:35 · David Rosenthal, Ben Gilbert
[03:03:35] S1: Yep. Castle Rock takes a loss on the show by design. That's right. By design, they lose money on nine years of Seinfeld. [03:03:45] S0: Kinda like the first nine years of an early stage venture portfolio. Yeah. Exactly. Although that's not fair because in years, what, six, they started participating in syndication. [03:03:55] S1: Right. Right. [03:03:55] S0: Right. You're scoping this just to [03:03:57] S1: No syndication. Just the just the first run. Columbia slash Sony, they're like a did not play. [03:04:03] S0: They make $0. They spent $0. [03:04:05] S1: Again, by design. Cumulatively, Jerry made 50 to $60,000,000 in salary from all of his seasons of Seinfeld as the star, creator, co writer, etcetera. You know, huge, huge, but peanuts compared to the back end. Larry's salary during the show, as we talked about, has never been reported, but it is safe to say much, much lower for Jerry's and only for seven seasons. The rest of the cast, talked about, they're just employees. In total, they each probably made 25,000,000 or so, kinda give or take. But, of course, from a syndication standpoint, the business is just getting started. [03:04:42] S0: Right. In some ways, the story here on our episode is over, but the business is barely started.
03:04:47 · David Rosenthal
[03:04:47] S1: So to date, Seinfeld has had a record six plus broadcast syndication cycles more than any other show in history for broadcast syndication. No other show ever got five. Right? Not on broadcast affiliates. The... Just on, you know, like Mhmm. Cable TV land. TV land, etcetera. Over the decade of the two thousands, the show continues to do great. By 2010, the show had done $2,700,000,000 in total syndication revenue for off network and cable. Three years after that, by 2013, that figure is up to $3,100,000,000. Along the way, they also start to drip out DVD home video releases. They get a great business model move. Only one or two seasons at a time over several years, followed by the complete box set at the end of it for true collectors. In total, DVD home video generates, we estimate, about another 500,000,000 in revenue. So call it up to 3,600,000,000 total post airing revenue. It's actually a fun coda to the cast economics with the DVD releases. They hold out again to get back end in the DVD releases in order to come back for the commentary. I think this is part of why it takes so long to get the DVDs out. Oh, interesting. And, you know, totally makes sense on their end. Right? Like, it's just the last point of leverage that they have. And gets reported that each of the cast members get kinda, like, low tens of millions each out of the DVD sales. Along the way here, throughout the two thousands and into the twenty tens, I think Jerry and Larry start to realize that, basically, their main economic job from now on is to be on a permanent book tour for Seinfeld, the show, like, to be permanent ambassadors to the continued cultural relevance of the show.