Media Jobs in Connecticut Get Deal

Posted on May 5, 2009

New Connecticut media jobs will be created when the NBC show Deal or No Deal begins shooting a daytime version of the game show in Connecticut instead of Los Angeles.

Howie Mandel, who hosts the Friday night version of the show, also will appear in the shorter daytime episodes. According to an article by the Hartford Courant, the second season of the show will begin taping at Sonalysts studios in Waterford this fall. Endemol USA, the show’s producer, has leased 15,000-square-feet of space for an undisclosed amount of time.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell said, ” (the show will bring) dozens of new, high-end production jobs and bring millions of dollars in added revenue to the state’s economy,” although NBC and Endemol have not provided specific numbers. According to an estimate by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Connecticut will spend $90 million on credits for the show this fiscal year.

Officials with NBC have stated that the show’s decision to shoot in Connecticut is a direct result of the state’s production tax credit of 30 percent, although neither the state or the companies involved have disclosed what Endemol will be getting in credits.

Deal isn’t the first NBC show to relocate to Connecticut. In February, the company announced it would move The Jerry Springer Show, Maury and The Steve Wilkos Show to Stamford by the fall. Those three shows are expected to create an additional 200 Connecticut jobs.