I can almost guarantee the senior execs had guaranteed severance packages, which were likely paid before the network went belly up. And I’m guessing J.C. Watts invested very little (if any) of his own money in the venture. One skill you learn quickly in Washington: burning through other people’s money, with nothing to show for it in the end.
I ran the numbers one year. The success rate (435/~1600). That’s 1600 who filed campaign donation reports not the total number of candidates, was about the same as it was for a Broadway show (~25%).
Don’t put your own money in the show.