America's Got Talent?

I have to admit that I've been watching America's Got Talent this season. It's not something I'm proud of, but I have to keep it real and tell it how it is.

In the spirit of keeping it real, I think NBC need to stop lying to young impressionable people when they brag about the $1,000,000 grand prize.

If you DVR the show and read the fine print right at the end of the credits you will see that the $1,000,000 described is actually an annuity. No one is going to pay you a million dollars for winning the show. In fact these cheap bastards pay out over a staggering 40 years!

This means that far from living like a rock star you are going to be getting about $480 a week as a prize (probably paid annually). Of the $25,000 you get paid, you will have to pay a bunch of tax most likely, so you'll probably be lucky to clear $20,000 a year, if that. So in the hand after deductions you may get around $380 a week.

Now I'm not going to pretend that it wouldn't be nice to receive that kind of money for doing nothing. But equally, let's not try and pretend that the winner is going to receive a million dollars in cold, hard, life altering cash.

With the advertising revenue that the show must be making, it is astonishing that the best they are willing to offer is a $480/week pay check.

All that said, we all know that the winner will have a real shot at making it big and making far more than the prize. But I still feel a little cheated when the prize is so badly misrepresented throughout the show and then only mentioned in the small print right at the end.