INFOGRAPHIC Reality TV producers work more, get paid less than scripted show peers

During a press conference today, the Writers Guild of America East called for government officials to investigate the wage theft reported by the majority of reality television producers associated with the union. The Writers Guild also released results of a recent survey, which found the average reality television producer loses $30,000 per year for unpaid overtime work.

“These findings demystify the perception that everyone involved in reality TV is reaping the benefits of the genre’s popularity,” said Lowell Peterson, WGA East executive director. “While reality TV is no doubt lucrative for networks and production companies, the men and women doing the actual work are finding they can barely cling to the middle class.”

Among shows and networks cited as offenders were A&E’s The First 48, Discovery’s Fatal Encounters and National Geograhic’s Doomsday Preppers. The Writers Guild of America East also compared the average weekly salaries of History’s Pawn Stars producers ($2,136) and USA’s scripted Royal Pains ($6,712). The union noted that Pawn Stars attracts one million more viewers on a weekly basis than Royal Pains.

We put together this handy infographic to summarize some of the other findings…

By releasing the results of the survey, the Writers Guild of America East hopes to better organize non-fiction production companies so they can demand collective bargaining rights. The union also hopes to receive a vote of confidence by employees who de-certified the guild as their bargaining agent in 2012.

Public advocate-elect Letitia James told the New York Daily News that she supports the campaign: “The networks and production companies that make millions of dollars in profits from reality-television programs must obey the wage-and-hour laws.”

Representatives from the networks mentioned in the press conference have not spoken about the survey.