You can certainly argue that it doesn’t lose “that much money,” compared to more expensive shows. But any loss means the show is unprofitable. So why is it still on?
You suggest repeats fill time slots. But the repeats do much, much worse than the underperforming first-runs. It doesn’t help to fill time with programming nobody watches. It’s like filling valuable shelf space at Wal-Mart with stuff no one wants to buy — you just don’t do it and make money.
There are twelve producers credited for the current season. Half of them are writer/producers. There are additional staff writers. It’s a Writers Guild show, so the salaries must meet WGA minimums.
Factor in Maher’s salary and production costs — all union, because it’s shot at CBS. The show is at least $500,000 per episode to produce. Maybe not much by today’s TV standards, but there’s still no return. It doesn’t get ratings. It doesn’t sell well on DVD.
“Game of Thrones” is expensive — but it is and is going to continue making a boatload of money, both in new subscribers and in DVD sets. On the flip side, don’t be fooled by “Boardwalk Empire’s” renewal — the ratings stink. HBO is trying to stay with it and turn it into a hit. But if things don’t pick up this season, buh-bye.
The only explanation for “Real Time’s” repeated renewal is it serves an agenda other than profit — because it’s not profitable — for HBO.
HBO's rationale is a little more opaque than other, commercial-based networks. But they make a lot of money, and they are seeing that the success of their network is based on original programming. Bill Maher does about 1.2 million viewers. Thats a little less than half of what Boardwalk Empire averaged. But you guess that Maher's show costs a half million dollars while Boardwalk cost $5 million an episode. Half the viewers at one-tenth the cost? Not a bad deal. Plus Maher's show has gotten a pile of Emmy nominations, bringing prestige to the network and enhancing their marketing. And when HBO is one of the most lucrative entities on cable, earning upwards of $3.5 billion a year, it's hard to argue that they're making a big mistake keeping one low-cost show on the schedule.
Not everything is a conspiracy.