Reality Salaries Hit New High

Call it the J.Lo effect. When American Idol producers agreed in 2010 to pay pop music superstar Jennifer Lopez about $12 million to replace Simon Cowell on the Fox competition's 10th season, little did they know they were setting off a gold rush. More than a year later, the C-listers that once populated the judges panels on reality shows have given way to a new crop of increasingly bold-face names demanding big-time paydays.