Here's a couple of articles about the new deal.
From AOL News

Neither General Electric Co.'s NBC nor AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. would comment on the terms of the deal, but people familiar with the situation told the Journal the stars of the top rated, half-hour show would be paid about $1 million each per episode, a 33 percent raise.

Daily Variety said the cast had signed a $150 million deal that will pay each actor about $1 million an episode.

Currently, NBC pays a license fee of about $5.5 million per episode, which does not cover the cost of the show, the Journal said. Under the new agreement, NBC is expected to pay more than $6 million per episode, the Journal online report said.

The reruns, already successful, are expected ultimately to generate more than $1 billion for Warner Bros., making it one of the most successful programs of all time, the Journal said.

NBC and Warner Bros. were not immediately available to comment.

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Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Industry insiders said NBC has agreed to increase its license fee for "Friends" from the current $5.5 million per episode to around $6.5 million, with 24 episodes set to be produced next season. That makes "Friends" the most expensive half-hour program in TV history -- and roughly as costly, per minute, as "ER" in its heyday, when NBC paid $13 million per hour for that medical drama.

In return, WBTV will give the "Friends" cast a raise of around $300,000 -- bumping stars Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston from $750,000 per episode to just around $1 million. That's more than most TV thesps, but not as much as "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer, who last year hammered out a new pact that pays him $1.6 million an episode.

The cast will continue to get a piece of the "Friends" syndication backend, though that amount will remain the same as it had been.

The pact was hammered out in a relatively short amount of time, with cast negotiations getting serious in just the last two weeks. NBC and Warner Bros. TV finalized their new license fee agreement early last week, allowing the studio to put the finishing touches on a deal with the cast.

Producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane were already signed on for another season.

The deal allows both NBC and WBTV to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Friends," which this season ranks as TV's most-watched series, is the linchpin of NBC's fading (though still strong) Thursday night lineup. If the show had ended this season, it would have left a gaping hole in the network's schedule that would have been impossible to fill.

Now, NBC has one last year to develop one or two new successful laffers to at least try to fill the gap that will be created by the show's absence come fall 2003.

For Warner Bros. TV, another year of episodes provides the studio with many millions more in syndication revenue from the additional 22 segs of "Friends" to be produced.

WBTV will continue to produce "Friends" at a deficit, though that syndication and international revenue more than ensures the series remains a cash cow for AOL Time Warner. The studio gets roughly $4 million an episode in syndication dollars for "Friends," which means at least another $100 million in the till from the additional 24 episodes to be produced next season.

Insiders said reps for NBC and WBTV worked out the deal with the cast collectively, with seven major legal reps involved for the cast. The deal was finalized late Sunday; it took most of the day Monday to get final signatures from the cast.

One insider close to the talks said negotiations were "pretty friendly," particularly considering the amount of money on the table. "It was a very amicable negotiation, without much stress or strain," one person involved in the deal said.

While Warner Bros. TV's original offer was lower than the eventual price tag, insiders said the studio didn't take too long to get to a figure the cast was comfortable with. Insiders said there was some back-and-forth over "quality of life issues," but even those were dealt with relatively easily.

NBC West Coast president Scott Sassa called the new deal "a wonderful event for everyone," while the network's entertainment president, Jeff Zucker said he was "thrilled" to have the show back for one more season.

"It's no secret how important 'Friends' is to NBC," Zucker said, noting the deal was hammered out without much pain.

"Since we all had the same objective, this was the easiest deal we have ever made," he said. "Everyone wanted it to work out, because everyone wanted to be able to send the series out appropriately -- and in style."

The agreement that next year will be the final season of "Friends" isn't written into any contracts, but all sides have an understanding that 2002-03 will mark the show's end. The writers and producers will map out the show with a May 2003 end date in mind. WBTV president Peter Roth said putting a cap on "Friends" was important to all involved.

"'Friends' has been and is a phenomenal success story, and with that comes a great deal of responsibility," Roth said. "We believe it is essential that 'Friends' not only go out on top in the ratings, but also be creatively complete. The reason this deal came together so amicably is that we all readily understood we could accomplish all of our goals and serve all of our interests by having a farewell season devoted to concluding the series."

This season, "Friends" has been garnering both solid reviews and ratings. By promoting the sudsier sides of the show's storylines, NBC has been able to boost the Thursday anchor's ratings by 13% in adults 18-49 vs. last season. The show averages roughly 25 million viewers per week.

Bright, Kauffman and Crane issued a statement saying they were "very excited" about the renewal and noting that every episode next season will be devoted to wrapping up storylines and sending "our characters off into the world."

Reuters/Variety

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Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

The six stars of the show, NBC, Warner Brothers Television and Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions signed a deal Monday to wrap up the series with a final, 24-episode season starting in the fall. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer all will be paid $1 million per episode for the final season, according to sources close to the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The 24 episodes are two more than the traditional 22-episode order given most television series.

Their current contracts, believed to be worth more than $750,000 per episode now, were to expire at the end of the season.

``We are enormously pleased and excited to be returning for a ninth season,'' the actors said in a statement. ``We could not ignore the outpouring of public support for the show.''

It was unexpectedly quick good news for NBC, which had been concerned that negotiations over the series' return would stretch into May, as it had the last time ``Friends'' was renewed. May is when networks announce their fall schedules.

The network had pushed for an earlier answer, since knowing whether ``Friends'' would return affects the types of new shows it develops. Since the actors were buoyed by the show's strong ratings and critical response this season, they decided quickly to come back.

``Friends'' has drawn an average of 24.5 million viewers this season, more than any other regular series. It has never finished as the No. 1 show for any season in its history, according to Nielsen Media Research.

``We've never had better `Friends,''' said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker, ``and we're thrilled.

``Since we all had the same objective, this was the easiest deal we have ever made,'' Zucker said. ``Everyone wanted it to work out, because everyone wanted to be able to send the series out appropriately, and in style.''

It makes for an extraordinary week of good news at NBC, which is basking in even higher initial ratings for the Winter Olympics than had been anticipated.

The ``Friends'' season is nearing a climax with Aniston's character, Rachel, pregnant and due to deliver a baby during the May ratings sweeps.

NBC will reportedly pay Warner Brothers a $6 million per episode license fee for the series, up from the current $5.5 million.

The series' creators, Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, said they would devote the entire last year to wrapping up story lines and ``send our characters off into the world.''

The series of six close-knit pals living in Manhattan spawned many imitators at its initial success - including on NBC - but no show could match its formula for success. The show is already being seen frequently in syndication.

Earlier Monday, show representatives denied a tabloid report that writers were working on a final episode that had Rachel dying in childbirth.

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Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited.