system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do game shows make money when they are always giving away prizes?
gpt
They sell advertising, lots and lots of advertising. Plus, don't forget merchandising on the larger ones. (You get a copy of our home game!).

The profits from these two things are greater than the amount of money they give away. Most gameshows have a pretty low overhead. They don't really require a lot of effects and they don't have a large cast. Whereas, a high-budget sci-fi show could easily blow as much money as it costs for many of the prizes, simply on special effects for a single episode. That's not even counting paying actors, extras, crew, etc.

**TL;DR: Sell advertising and merchandise, spend as little as possible elsewhere.**