How much money do TV writers make? [Network and Streaming TV writer salaries]

TV writer salaries fluctuate wildly across the television landscape. Even two writers with the same title on different shows can be making very different amounts of money. For example, a Co-Executive Producer on a network TV show could be making $25k per episode, while a Co-Executive Producer on a non-union animation could be making $5k per episode.

In addition, keep in mind that just because you're making a good weekly or episodic salary for a couple months, TV writing jobs don't last very long. So, that money you made could be the only you make that year. So, don't take any of the weekly salary numbers I'm going to lay out below and multiply them by 52. It just doesn't work that way.

That's why, in this post, I'm going to break down TV writer salaries in a few different ways: what type of show you work on, script fees, and episodic or weekly salaries. All of these elements factor into how much you'll get paid as a TV writer.

I believe in transparency, particularly in the entertainment industry where much of what happens goes down behind closed doors. And for anyone who's looking to break into TV and understand the field, pay transparency is crucial for writers and for assistants alike.

So, let's look at the first major defining factor when it comes to salaries...

Weekly TV Writer Salaries on Network vs. Cable/Streaming

Network has always been, and still is, the place where TV writers get paid the most. And there are two reasons for this. The first is that in the WGA contract, it's stipulated that the highest salaries are for network shows. This is due to years of negotiations (network TV has been around forever), the smaller budgets of many cable shows, and the advent and tumultuousness of streaming that hasn't allowed the numbers to catch up yet. (Just to underline just how tumultuousness this has all been, for cable, I think we're talking about 1-3 scripted shows that are currently on the air. The cable TV landscape is bleak!)

You may be thinking, "How do writers make more on network? I've been hearing about nine-figure deals on streamers!" This is true. There are creators and showrunners making obscene money on streamers. But those are the famous, well-established bunch who are the exception to the rule. For the rest of us, the money looks a little more like this...

The staff writer, the lowest level writer in the room can make between $4,362 to $5,567 as a standard minimum weekly salary.

And the numbers go up from there.

Showrunner/EPs, the highest level of writer, and the leader of the writers' room, can make upwards of $30k-$40k per episode.

(Note: at a certain point when climbing the writer ranks, your salary changes from weekly to episodic.)

Network writers benefit from these union-mandated high salaries. But that's not the only reason network TV writers get paid more. There are far more episodes being produced of network TV than anything else. A full season on a cable or streaming show typically runs 8 episodes these days, sometimes even less. But a full season of network TV is still 22 episodes.

Therefore, instead of a writers' room lasting for 2-3 months, it lasts of about 9 months. That's a lot more time working and a lot more money in your pocket.

TV Writer Salaries: Episodic Fees

You know on the credits of TV shows where it says "written by" and then a writer's name? That means that writer just made a lot of money. Episodic fees are a whole other source of revenue for TV writers. Even though writers get a weekly or episodic salary, they also get money when they write an episode of the show they're working on.

And that money can be big. Here's what it looks like for network TV:

30-minute TV script fee: $29,823

60-minute TV script fee: $43,862

Those numbers go down by about $10k on cable TV shows and streaming has a whole new confusing algorithm to figuring it out. But if you're on a TV writing staff, you're likely getting a script to write, and that will come along with this big fee on top of your regular salary.

Not All TV Writing is Covered by the WGA Union

Another major difference in TV writer salaries is between union TV shows and non-union TV shows. The WGA covers shows that are produced above a certain budget threshold. For most of what you watch on TV, the shows are above that threshold. On the major streamers and networks, there's nothing that falls below it.

But on smaller streamers, there are. And some of those shows aren't covered by the WGA at all. The writers on these shows, both because of the lower budgets of the productions and because they don't have union protections, make far less than writers on WGA-covered TV shows.

And there's also animation... Animation fits into this weird gray area that lives between two unions. Some shows are covered by the screenwriters' union, the WGA. Meanwhile, other shows are covered by the IATSE Animation Guild. Those in IATSE make far less than those in the WGA. The differences are striking. And some animated shows aren't covered at all. Therefore, animation TV writers, by and large, make far less than live-action TV writers.

TV Writer Salaries: Residuals

The last source of income for writers that I'm going to discuss are residuals. This is money that you make after you've worked on a show and your TV show airs. Residuals were a big deal back in the day. If you worked on a TV show and your show sold into syndication, meaning it was played all the time on many different channels, you were making a lot of money. Like, "live off of residuals alone"-type of money. But those days are over.

So, instead, a few thousand dollars might come your way from a network TV show, which was the case for me, or even nothing from a streaming TV show, which was the case for me. Since the 2023 WGA contract negotiation, there is a new system in place for residuals for streamers based on how much a TV show is watched. But the numbers are only released to the union.

So, what does this mean for up-and-coming TV writers?

Basically, you're never going to be able to predict your salary. This is an artistic profession. A lot of nice creativity comes along with that, but a lot of financial unpredictability and uneasiness comes along with that as well. For those breaking into TV writing, it's great to know what to expect, and what to strive for.

In my book, Breaking into TV Writing, I could into the day-to-day reality of being a TV writer.

But it's also important to question if this is what you want. TV writing may sound like a fun job, but it needs to work into your life plan. If volatile salary fluctuations are not something you want to contend with, it's better to know that now. If you don't mind a, let's call it, exciting financial life, then this could be right up your alley.