‘Mad Men’s $3 Million Per Episode Cost Was Considered High When the Show Experienced Low Viewership
When Mad Men premiered in 2007, it wasn’t the TV hit it later became. The AMC period drama is known for its intriguing characters and top-notch costume designs. As fans may expect, Mad Men was not cheap to make, which made its early low viewership difficult, considering its cost per episode.
‘Mad Men’ became a massive hit for AMC
Between 2007 and 2015, Mad Men was one of the biggest TV shows on the air. It is no wonder because it was made to look like a million bucks. Set in New York City in the 1960s advertising world, the series follows the professional and personal lives of the employees of Sterling Cooper, specifically Jon Hamm’s Don Draper.
While the series scored many Emmy nominations for its seven-season run, it didn’t land many for its performances. Instead, it snapped up Creative Arts Emmys in categories like art direction, cinematography, and hairstyling. Of course, the look wasn’t the only thing that kept audiences coming back season after season.
“Don’t expect a snappy, superficial, retro homage to the Rat Pack–Mad Men is first and foremost an intelligently made character drama,” wrote The Chicago Tribune. “One of the interesting things about this show is how quickly the expertly done period re-creation falls away, once we get to know the yearning, confused, confident people, who inhabit the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. They’re not period pieces–they’re just like us.”
It was expensive to make at the time
According to BuzzFeed, Mad Men had a budget of about $3 million per episode. Compared to period TV shows now, a $3 million budget may seem low. Costs were much higher for the show due to the period set designs, costumes, and cast salaries compared to other shows with similar viewership.
After much negotiations, the creator of the series, Matthew Weiner, came to an agreement with AMC and Lionsgate TV for a three-year deal between $25-30 million. With this agreement, AMC picked up Mad Men for seasons 5 through 7, according to Deadline.
How did the show recoup its costs? According to The Atlantic, the studio got its money primarily from the licensing fee from AMC. There is also online streaming viewership. Netflix reportedly paid $1 million per episode to add Mad Men to its streaming service.
Additionally, the show is popular overseas. Distributors like HBO Latin America and BBC Four in the U.K. have paid upwards of $500,000 per episode to stream for their fans.
‘Mad Men’ may not be the biggest TV drama, but it’s one of the best
Mad Men continued to win awards throughout its tenure. The show landed a total of 15 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series. With this acclaim, it would be easy to assume that the viewing audience was much bigger than it really was. In 2014, it ranked No. 21 among all dramas on cable TV, writes CNN.
But that’s not all that matters. “What the series lacks in sheer audience size, however, it makes up with influence and affluence, something advertisers crave,” the publication notes. “Mad Men is one of the most upscale shows on ad-supported TV.” Given the way the series has impacted popular culture in the years since it went off the air, it was clearly well worth the cost.
