Nets look to cut reality costs

May 28, 2008 Long considered the cheapest of programming genres, reality programs increasingly are under the gun to cut costs. Networks have been reducing the budgets of comedies and dramas to offset television ratings erosion. Producers on such veteran series as ABC's "Boston Legal" and NBC's "Law & Order" responded by shedding cast members, while others, including the daytime soap "Guiding Light," have overhauled production methods.

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