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Mad Men: Advertising That Would Change America

After a 17-month hiatus, millions of fans of the popular TV series Mad Men finally have another reason to linger at the water cooler. This Sunday, March 25, the two-hour premier of the fifth season comes with high expectations and a lot of pressure. Have the show and its producers jumped the shark? The retro-drama about an ad firm set on Madison Avenue in the 1960s has racked up 17 Emmys and four Golden Globes, and last year its creator, Matthew Weiner, renegotiated a contract with American Movie Channel (AMC) and Lionsgate for $30 million to create three more seasons.

Jon Hamm, who stars as Don Draper, the firm’s hard-charging creative director, is now reportedly earning eight figures for the three-year deal he signed last year, making him one of the top-earning actors on cable television. According to Miller Tabak & Company, Lionsgate gets about $2.71 million from AMC for each episode, which costs about $2.84 million to produce. In April 2011, Barron's reported that “the Mad Men series should generate $100 million of DVD and iTunes revenue for its seven-year run, which should total 88 episodes; this equates to $1.14 million per episode, taking the profitability up to $1.01 million per episode.”

Staff Report
In the mad world of advertising in the '60s as captured by the hit show <em>Mad Men</em>, there were three major networks, and the advertising business was a multi-million dollar business as well as a major force in the consumer landscape.
The Men Were in Charge In the mad world of advertising in the '60s as captured by the hit show Mad Men, there were three major networks, and the advertising business was a multi-million dollar business as well as a major force in the consumer landscape. In the mad world of advertising in the '60s as captured by the hit show Mad Men, there were three major networks, and the advertising business was a multi-million dollar business as well as a major force in the consumer landscape. Courtesy: AMC
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