Seinfeld is most lucrative show ever... making $2.7bn in repeats

Seinfeld has been named as the most profitable half-hour show in TV history – making $2.7billion in the 12 years since it went off air.

The amount – equivalent to £1.7billion – was revealed by Time Warner, which owns the rights to the series, in an investors’ meeting.

It does not include earnings made while the show originally aired on NBC – just what it has made in repeats on broadcast and cable TV.

With 180 episodes during its nine-year run, each installment has earned more than $15 million so far.

Jerry Seinfeld and co-creator Larry David have an undisclosed stake in the show, so have made royalties estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.

But co-stars Jason Alexander, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus do not see any of the syndication money – although they do receive a percentage of DVD sales.

Published: 3 Nov 2012