How much did Kardashians get paid for filming 'KUWTK'? Why moving to Hulu is a wise financial move for family
When the Kardashian-Jenner family made their debut on TV with 'Keeping Up with The Kardashians' way back in 2007, little did the world know how they would change the landscape of reality television. Over the years we have seen the family rise through the ranks of stardom, from being relatively unknown people to pop culture icons whose drama and family gossip became literal table talk.
Today, the Kardashians and Jenners, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Kendall Jenner have their own successful business ventures and projects that provide them with a regular income source, but at the end of the day, there's no denying that the family benefitted heavily from the reality show 'KUWTK' on E! 'KUWTK' opened the doors to fame and the resultant popularity helped the family amass a huge fan following which eventually proved to be a stepping stone for them into their own business ventures along with becoming the most sought-after influencers on social media. So, when the first family of reality television announced that the ongoing Season 20 would be the final season of the wildly popular reality show, fans were beyond shocked. Though, many had openly called to shut down the show, in secret they enjoyed watching the women's lives play out on television.
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Kim Kardashian penned down an emotional post on her Instagram to announce to the world the end of 'KUWWTK'. She wrote, "To our amazing fans – It is with heavy hearts that we’ve made the difficult decision as a family to say goodbye to Keeping Up with the Kardashians. After what will be 14 years, 20 seasons, hundreds of episodes and numerous spin-off shows, we are beyond grateful to all of you who’ve watched us for all of these years – through the good times, the bad times, the happiness, the tears, and the many relationships and children. We’ll forever cherish the wonderful memories and countless people we’ve met along the way.”
Although today the family might be running a $2 billion business empire, their humble beginnings were well documented on 'KUWTK', Read on to know how much the Kardashians made over the years from the reality show.
How much do the Kardashians get paid for 'KUWTK'?
'KUWTK' was an extremely successful bet for E! During the show's run, it managed to get 11 spin-offs and aired in over 160 countries. According to The Hollywood Reporter, at the peak of 'KUWTK's fame, it drew in about 10.5 million viewers. It all began in 2007, when Kris teamed up with Ryan Seacrest and pitched a show about her eccentric family to various networks. Kris was inspired by the Osbourne family's reality show 'The Osbournes'. Can you believe that E! initially rejected the pitch for 'KUWKT'? But they eventually came around and signed the family for a six-episode show that would be filmed on a single camera. Caitlyn Jenner reminisced about this on the recently aired episode of 'KUWTK' while looking back at home far the family has come since then.
The show was an instant hit and E! renewed 'KUWTK' for the second season within a month of its premiere. The family signed a three-year deal in 2012 with E!. The details of their early contracts haven't been revealed, so we don't know how much the family made from the show. But when the family renewed their contract with E! in 2015, for four more seasons, they made some major money. While Variety reported that the family closed the deal for $100 million, TMZ, however, estimated the deal to be of much higher value and reported it as about $150 million!
When the show celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017, they renewed their contract with E! for another three years. Although reports originally estimated the deal to be worth $150 million, an insider from the network revealed that the deal was less than $100 million. In case you're wondering how the family splits this whopping income they make off 'KUWTK', then we got you covered. In 2017, during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show, Kris revealed that she gets a 10% cut for closing any renewal deals, but aside from that the money is reportedly divided equally amongst everybody. She said, "Everybody gets paid pretty much equally, because we all film a lot and we all work hard, and we’ve created this show and this brand for the last decade. Everybody’s happy,"
When the family announced the end of 'KUWTK', although fans were dejected and upset, they however had a glimmer of hope as the family had reportedly struck a multi-year deal with Disney's streaming platform Hulu.
Kardashians' Hulu Deal
In December 2020, Disney announced that it had signed a multi-year deal with the family to produce "new global content" that will stream on Hulu. Although the details of the contract haven't been revealed, it will certainly be worth a lot. "Additional details will be shared when available," reads Disney's press release as part of its 2020 Investor Day.
Kris is known for her amazing business acumen, so her move to shift from cable to streaming platform is a carefully calculated move. In recent years, streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have been known to shell out some big money to get some great content on their platform. The new content will reportedly stream exclusively on Hulu nationally and on Disney's Star platform internationally in late 2021. Kris, Kim, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie, and Kourtney were all named in the deal.
So even though 'KUWTK' may be ending, we still haven't seen the last of the famous family, for we will soon see them on Hulu laughing their way to the bank.
'Keeping Up with The Kardashians' Season 20 airs every Thursday at 8/7c only on E!