Weils zu der aktuellen Diskussion gut dazu passt und ich es grade eben auf imdb gefunden habe, hier eine aktuelle Newsmeldung - um zu zeigen, dass das Phänomen, dass eine Serie keinen Nettoprofit ausweist, eher die Regel denn die Ausnahme ist:

Lawsuit May Define "Net Profits"
A lawsuit filed by two talent agencies against Paramount questioning how the company can claim that the TV series Frasier, which grossed $1.5 billion, is actually $200 million in the red may shed more light on Hollywood's accounting systems, the Los Angeles Times observed today (Monday). The lawsuit, filed by the Jim Preminger Agency of Los Angeles and the Kaplan Stahler Gumer Braun Agency of Beverly Hills, claims that Paramount contrived ways of funneling to itself hundreds of millions of dollars into production and distribution expenses, leaving no "net profits" to those persons who were promised "back end" deals. The two agencies represent Peter Casey and David Lee as well as the late David Angell, who created Frasier, the TV series that ran on NBC for 11 seasons. The Times noted that although there have been numerous similar lawsuits in the past, there remains no hard-and-fast definition of "net profits" and most of the lawsuits have wound up in out-of-court settlements.

Quelle: IMDB