How do game shows pay their contestants and winners?

I'm watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and although you may not be a winner, you can still walk away with thousands...so how do they pay them??How do game shows pay their contestants and winners?
You don't always win the money amount on the front of your lectern when you are on a game show. As someone else said, 2nd place earns $2000 and 3rd place earns $1000 in Jeopardy!



In any case, the prize money is paid out from the ad revenue that the show receives from sponsors. It is the same money that goes to pay for the production of television shows like LOST, which costs over $1M per episode to produce. Didn't you ever wonder where *that* money comes from?
I think in this case Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Deal or No Deal is the best example of how shows can be successful while still paying the prize money. I feel this way because these shows have a potential, however small it may be, to pay out 1 million dollars to every contestant on the show. Here is the reality. Regardless of the show whether it be a game show or a drama, a network will receive money from commercial advertising based on the viewership. With this in mind a game show costs very little to actually air compared to a full production drama series, that's where the prize money comes from. While the show draws in so many viewers, that translates to commercial bids that bring in a certain amount a money based on how many people will see the commercial. So instead of paying writers for every show's script on a drama or paying anyone else on a regular, they pay a host, a crew, some lawyers some researchers and other miscellaneous jobs that leave a large profit left to allow the show to comfortably allocate a large some of money to potential prize money. Also it should be noted that the more money awarded to contestants has been known to boost ratings. This makes for an interesting cycle in how much they receive from commercials and how much they give out as prizes.How do game shows pay their contestants and winners?
Commercials pay a lot of money to the broadcasting channel and the broadcasting channel pays the shows, and the shows pay the contestants =]
On Jeopardy if you lose than you don't walk away with much. Second place gets $2,000 and Third place gets $1,000.How do game shows pay their contestants and winners?
That is a good question! I would think maybe from all the sponsors of the show? Lol, now you have got me curious....