Are Vanna and Sajak overpaid?
 

I don’t watch the show but does anyone watch it to see White and Sajak?

I was stunned to see that Vanna makes $3 million a year and Sajak makes $15 million!

If they hired some unknown actors for $500,000 a year, would you not watch?


Vanna White lawyers up as Ryan Seacrest named 'Wheel' host

Does anyone watch Columbo to see Peter Falk or couldn't they just hire some other actor to be quirky? Does anyone watch Star Wars to see Mark Hamill or even Harrison Ford? The point is that all entertainers can be replaced, but some do a really great job of making the viewer enjoy the product.

WOF only has two people who make the show. The contestants are totally forgettable, but people have watched that show for over a generation, and had Vanna and Pat as guests in their home since 1981/2, far longer than their own children lived there, hopefully.

It is Pat and Vanna and mostly their chemistry that have earned the owner of the product 100's of millions of dollars. They deserve the salary. Breaking News - The Two Most-Watched Shows in Syndication "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" Renewed Through 2027-2028 | TheFutonCritic.com

They are not overpaid.

After Alex Trebec passed away, they tried several guest hosts for Jeopardy. Then the producer decided that he would host. That didn't work very well.

Getting people who have the personal chemistry to make a show work is not as easy as it looks. Once it does work and millions of people watch the show, the folks who are hosting get paid large sums of money. Makes sense (and lots of cents) to me.

It is based on ratings.

Salary is personal and part of success, like profit sharing.
There are certain jobs where people are extremely valuable, relative to the outcome.

From the OP's question, the OP is using a personal reference point, versus an outcome reference point, for which there is no appreciation nor understanding. People get paid for outcomes. . .

One huge exception is those who have Government jobs, where salary has nothing to do with outcomes.

Vanna White recently hired a lawyer to get an increase to her $3 million salary. In my opinion, she may soon be unemployed.

If a particular person brings in say $10 million in profit to an organization per year, aren't they worth a $1 million salary? In turn, if an employee only brings in $100,000 in profit to an organization per year, I doubt that employee would make all that much.

They are getting paid what they are worth, or at least what their bosses think they are worth.

Your math, Your example..................the employee would be paid $10,000......I bet the employee would make that much.

:loco::loco:

Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand or appreciate the concept of capitalism. Almost all of the taxes that our Government receives comes from profits made by private businesses. Without profitable companies, our country would have no source of income. A non-profitable company pays no taxes. Yet, some people want to tamper with the way private businesses produce a profit.

When I woke this morning last thing on my mind is how much someone who I have no connection to makes. Heat index was big issue this morning, and how hot it was at 4am

She is starting to show her age

The issue is whether people watch to see the show or whether they watch to see Vanna and Sajak.

I would think many people could do that job almost as well if not better for far less money.

There are certain jobs such as professional athletes where they can’t be readily replaced by other people. Actors are more fungible than other professions.

Jeopardy seems to be doing quite well even though Trebek is no longer the host.

I watch the Super Bowl because I want to see the game. I don’t care who the announcers are.

Has any ever watched a sporting event to listen to the announcers?

Do people think the ratings will fall after Seacrest takes over?

My guess is that it's her last chance to get a raise so why not ask. They are not going to give it to her if she doesn't ask. If they are going to make a transition to Ryan Seacrest, I can't believe he is cheap, so they may cut ties with her anyway and maybe offer the job to Pat's daughter to have some continuity...

Given that it is being reported that she hasn't been given a raise in 18 years, I don't really blame her.

According to Puck News, White has been making around $3 million a year since 2005 and has received only bonuses, not raises, during that time period.

I knew some people who had a low base salary but their bonus was MUCH larger than their salary.

Since we only know one number - her salary - and not the bonus, we can’t determine whether she is underpaid.

She could be making $3 million with a $10,000 bonus or $3 million with a $10 million bonus. She has stayed there for the past 18 years so I am sure she is reasonably satisfied with the money.

The real question is why aren’t the man and the woman paid the same amount! Equal pay for equal work!

They don't do equal work. All she does is touch the letters.

Something/Someone is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay. As of now, they are worth 3 and 15m.

I'll take that gig for the 3 million, (turning letters) or 15 trying to be funny (when he is not). Only in America. Steve Harvey is funnier.

This is exactly the problem with that debate. For decades millions of people have been able to see completely different work by two people, and yet someone says "equal work."

Maybe. But I think professional baseball players are overpaid. When a public school teacher has to buy his own class's crayons and construction paper, then I think anyone who is working a "non-essential" job is overpaid.

Wait until Vanna is older and needs to use a walker to transverse the board. And can barely raise her arm to touch the letter.

They made need to expand the show to an hour then.

She's pretty close.

Wiki reports Vanna was born in February of 1957. As she is past 66 years and two months old she has reached full retirement age for Social Security so she can call it a day. After all $3M/yr in 2023 ain't what it was in 2005, poor thing, working for lunch money.

The ideal job!
 

I remember after watching the show the first time my comment was WOW that's the perfect job I would love it. My thinking was it was probably a hi paying job requiring almost 0 skill or effort, no training, no education, no verbal skill, no stress, show up 15 minutes before the 1/2 hr. show and leave right after it - 1 hr max per day being kind. My estimate of hi pay for that job was probably in the range of $100,000. I'm sure gender bias would have stopped me from getting hired because I fit all the other requirements. I can't believe anyone would pay someone 3 Million for that job, even 300,000 would be way more than enough.

The most she can get at the moment, if she retires this year, is $3,627.00/month. That's under $44,000/year. When you're currently earning $3M a year, well - $44K/year ends up being basically grocery money.

It doesn't really matter what they make. Bet Seacrest's salary will be much higher and especially not deserved.

I'd like to buy a vowel
 

here some numbers so you can recover from your shock. Next time find better personalities to use instead of americana ones
let's get outraged by political news and sports commentators and all their foibles and their so called worth

Show me the money
 

I represented a small union years ago where I was the sole negotiator. I dealt with the three major networks, the major studios and live performances. If you're basing her salary on what she actually does for work, you may have an argument. What I quickly learned is how much money the industry brings in. I sat down with CBS that were offering a 3-year contract, 0 the first year, and 2% the following 2, their reasoning was the local stations were not doing as well as the total network. That year the CEO of CBS salary was 85 million. I never watched Wheel of Fortune, but I do remember they had let her go years ago and the audience demanded her to be rehired. I'm sure the producers are weighing if it is better to clear the deck or keep some stability. If it's stability, then 3 million is a drop in the bucket.

Vanna should get a raise because the pay gap is quite large but at the same time, I fear she’s out a job. Ryan Seacrest is so rich, he’s not taking that job for the price Sajak made so they’ll need that extra 3 mil toward his salary. Fun Fact… before American Idol, Ryan was the afternoon DJ on my local radio station in Los Angeles. He did the afternoon time slot on 98.7. As a matter of fact, when American Idol started, it was the first time I’d seen what he looked like after listening to him for literal years on the radio. The money he made on that show alone would be enough for 3 lifetimes but add on the money from producing the Kardashians and boom. He’s worth nearly 500 million now.

That is exactly correct. No one here or anywhere (including the OP) has any say in how much someone else earns for whatever job they perform. For an employed person, only the employer can judge their worth. The sky is the limit for those of us that are self-employed. It's basically no one's business. To presume that one can judge how much Vanna White or Pat Sajak earns, is to further presume that the OP has some say on how much anyone earns (including me). And, I find that offensive.

Yes...I have. I grew up in Southern California, and was always a Dodgers fan. As a young boy, I would sit with my little transistor radio, and listen to Vin Scully call the games. When I closed my eyes to listen to Mr. Scully, I could see the game in my mind's eye. He was that good.

Pat retiring next year and Ryan Seacrest is replacement. Yes they get pay big bucks! The shows popular for years and their pay goes with the popularity.

It is a free-market system. The "market" sets their worth, as it does for you and me.

Yes, and they pay a high salary to lock in a multi-year contract, which prevents the employee from leaving for a better offer.

The question was whether you watched a sporting event just because of the announcers. It sounds like you listened to it on the radio.

Is there any event - World Series, Super Bowl, Olympics, Masters, Wimbledon - that you watch only because of the announcer and would not watch if your favorite announcer was not broadcasting?

Not at all.

For your information, you can find the correct facts here, so you may better understand and appreciate capitalism yourself :

https://files.taxfoundation.org/2023..._rev2023_3.png

So, if there were no private businesses that made a profit, where would the money come from to pay those taxes?