In Depth
20th Century Fox TV Cuts Production Budgets
News Corp.-owned 20th Century Fox Television is implementing across-the-board production cuts at all of its series, joining a growing list of companies trimming budgets in the wake of the economic downturn.
All 20th producers have been told to reduce their budgets by 2%, a spokesman for the studio confirmed Tuesday. The move affects both existing hits such as “24” and “Family Guy” as well as newer shows such as “Life on Mars” and “Dollhouse.”
"In these challenging economic times, we've asked all of our showrunners to trim their production budgets by 2%, an assignment which they have all embraced,” a 20th spokesman said. “Everyone understands that revenues are down and these steps are necessary to protect our business."
The cuts at 20th follow ABC Studios’ decision to ask its producers to trim 2% from their respective budgets. NBC Universal and CBS Corp. also have recently undergone waves of layoffs in reaction to the gloomy economic climate.
(Editor: Baumann)
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Comments 2
Bill
Does this mean even more product placement in future season than there was during 24: Redemption?
I could see that being one way of working around the budget cuts for more popular programs...
Eric Merklein
Might I suggest that temporary minimal salary cuts for staff and higher temporary cuts for folks who are in the high end above the line and below line brackets, is a better way to cut costs rather than using the big ax and laying people off (causing much personal grief and crushing family debt).
If this was done by other industries as well, it could help stop this terrible spiral down that is gripping us all.