). Thus CBS should be seen, here, as a factory controlled by people trying to make a profit. The contestants would then be the workers who keep the factory churning out products. Unlike the owners of an industrial factory though, the network owners, in this case, do not make a direct profit from the product they sell. They make a profit based on the advertising that airs while that product is being consumed. So in fact, the advertisements that play during this show are what bring money to CBS. From an economic standpoint, reality shows such as Survivor, are attractive to networks because of their inexpensive production costs. For example, a half-hour episode of "Spy TV" costs NBC about $400,000 per episode, compared to $5.3 million per episode for "Friends" (Goodale, 2002, p. 16). Survivor is a great example of this. "If it's a hit, the price goes up," said Bob Igiel, president of The Media Edge's broadcast division (Frutkin, 2001, p. 2). For instance, in the case of Survivor, one 30 second commercial on average sells for $445,000 ("Survivor 3 Ousts First Survivor," 2001). And for Survivor 1and 2, the network sold sponsorship packages for $3.7 million and $12 million, respectively ("In Show Product Placement," 2001). In addition, reality programs have another potential source of revenue less available to other types of shows. In addition to regular advertisements, the advertisers are willing to pay sizable sums to have their product incorporated into them. Although product placement is a multi-million-dollar industry that has b
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