Where Does the Money Come From?

I’ve been asking this question for years. Some of it about how the government can come up with all these programs and give away millions of dollars to different organizations, causes, and even to other countries. (OK, I know a lot of that comes from taxes.)

But I wonder, too, about all the games shows on TV. Where does all that money come from to pay the winners? Some of my favorite shows are cooking shows. (Which is funny because I don’t like to cook, and I don’t like high-end foods. I prefer simple, few ingredients, non-spicy, meals.) Many shows on Food Network give away thousands of dollars every week. How can they do that every week? (And I say every week because even though one particular show may only run a few weeks, it is then replaced with other shows.)

Two examples are “Chopped,” where they give away $10,000 per episode, and “Guy’s Grocery Games,” where up to $20,000 per episode is given away. There are many other cooking competitions, too. There’s even a “Kids Baking Championship” where the winning kid can win that amount of money.

Where does all that money come from? Do the winners really get that much money? Do contestants have to pay to get on the show but are not allowed to say so?

And then there are the appliance and tool giveaways with KitchenAid and all those other brand companies sometimes giving away high-end products. Does this mean they are making such profits off consumers they can afford to give away so much? (Yes, I know some of this is advertising products for them.)

And this is just the Food Network. There are other game shows and competitions on TV where a lot of money is given away.

It’s not like sporting events where thousands of fans buy tickets to the games. How big can a studio audience be at these TV shows?

I enjoy watching the competitions. Everyone likes to see a winner.