As you might have heard, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike at 12:01 AM PST this morning.Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily had live blogged last minute negotiation attempts between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). However, when members of the WGA on the East coast walked out, talks on the west coast were over. Reportedly, the AMPTP had tried to convince the WGA to delay the strike to talks could continue.
According to ABC News, WGA Spokesperson Sherry Goldman reports that negotiations are ongoing; however, the strike has moved forward in the meantime. Apparently, during Sunday negotiations, the Writer's Guild removed DVD residuals from the negotiations, which would have doubled writers' residuals. However, the AMPTP's refusal to budge on Internet residuals made the negotiations something of a joke.
Neither side is officially name-calling at this point. However, the WGA side seems to feel that they took a huge talking point off the table (currently, writers don't receive very much profit from DVD sales and rentals at all, let alone the fact that they make nothing from Internet downloads) with little to no movement from the producers.
The first shows to be impacted by the strike will be the late-night comedies. I hope you have stockpile of David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show, and Stephen Colbert on your TiVo, because as of tonight, they will be in re-runs.
The next to be hit will be the soap operas, which film about two or three weeks ahead of time. Your favorite primetime shows likely won't be affected until January sometime. The writers of Brothers and Sisters wrote a heartfelt blog post to their readers last night before they put pencils down, saying the episode they had feverishly worked to finish would likely air then.
I have seen some talk, and forgive me for not linking, but I have read about this widely over the weekend, that the networks will likely try to draw out the time they have with their remaining scripts, so we may see shows start to intersperse re-runs with the new episodes. It is also likely what we will see an increase in the airing of reality TV shows, unless the strike is resolved fairly soon.
The last WGA strike occurred in 1988, and lasted for 22 weeks. Shows like Cheers took major hits during the strike, with viewers tuning out and approximately 10% of reviewers never returning. The financial cost to the industry was $500 million. I can only imagine what that number looks like twenty years later.
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
11-05-2007 @ 11:02AM
Oreo said...
MSNBC is saying if it last about 22 weeks it will be a billion dollars, but I can see it being closer to 2 billion.
JUST GIVE THE WRITERS THE LITTLE THEY WANT YOU CHEAP BASTARD NETWORKS!
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:20AM
Deezul said...
The strike will give me a chance to catch up on a boatload of DVDs and HD DVDs that I haven't watched. Plus, in 1988 there was no online gaming. I see increased use of that as well.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:26AM
Matt said...
Agreed completely, the fact that writers get pennies for DVD sales is a joke. I think the negotiations should have some sort of future 'new-media' clause to at least help give them 'ammo' in the future if, for example IPTV takes off and shows are delivered more on-demand. That wouldnt fit into what I've read of the current negotiations and would only further give reason for networks to push in that direction to avoid royalties.
Bottom line: Anyone that is an important part of a series is currently getting very fairly compensated, producers, directors, actors, heck I bet the grips get a better deal than the writers.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:27AM
Drex said...
Thank god for Halo3 and x-box live..
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:35AM
John D said...
good. the writers deserve money for shows. It's their work that sells the DVD's.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:32AM
Ralph said...
When I was in college back during the last strike, I turned in a paper in one of my writing classes named, "The Writer's Strike: An Insider's Perspective". It was 20 blank pages.
I got an A+ on it, no kidding.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:39AM
Will said...
And so it begins...
Well, I have plenty of books, video games, movies, and past seasons of TV shows that I've been neglecting because there's too much good stuff on TV now. Maybe I'll get a chance to get caught up.
Is it sad that I remember the last strike? I must have been 9 years old. I really do hope this one doesn't last long.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:45AM
Jen Creer said...
Will,
It's not nearly as sad as the fact that *I* remember it. I was 19 years old!
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:49AM
Jeff N. said...
The cost could be in the billions yet the AMPTP decided that giving the writers a small raise on downloaded material was worth letting the writers strike. Tell me how stupid this sounds. Penny wise and pound foolish is saying that comes to mind.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 11:58AM
iamhoff said...
@Ralph - bwa ha ha ha ha! Nice!
Just what the world needs, more reality shows (not)!
Seriously, the networks, production houses, and whatever need to just pony up for the writers...they can afford it (how much do those ads during Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, Idol, and Dancing cost anyway?). In all seriousness, have they even acknowledged that paying "something" for internet and DVD sales is necessary and they're just negotiating on the amount/formula, or are the production peeps denying that the web and DVDs are anything that needs consideration? I'm with Matt in that I hope whatever new contracts/agreements the writers come up with, there's some sort of "future media format" clause that sets a basis for preventing this sort of drama down the road.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:12PM
Gordy said...
That'll be 10 more years of reality television. Thanks writers.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 4:14PM
Aberdeen said...
At least I'll have more time for NaNoWriMo! And if they start reruns of shows like Mad Men and Damages, now i'll have the chance to check them out.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:27PM
Lord Bodak said...
I think this whole thing sucks, but at the same time... I have a ton of books to read, plenty of TV on DVD I haven't watched yet, and between my Netflix queue and my quest to watch the entire IMDB Top 250, I have about 200 movies I still need to see. So I'm not going to be running out of entertainment anytime soon.
Most people are probably similar-- we'll miss our shows, but we'll find other ways to entertain ourselves. The industry is taking a huge risk here because there a whole lot more entertainment options than there were in 1988. If 10% of viewers didn't come back in 1988, 25-30% might not come back this time.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:28PM
Kenban said...
Don't just assume the writers deserve a lot of money. We have no idea how much they are getting paid and how much they get for different forms of media already. Its foolish to just say they deserve more.
Bad union contracts have almost driven the US car companies and the airlines out of business.
The writers deserve to get reasonable compensation for their work. But I think the writers guild or at least the negotiators decided that they were going to strike almost no matter what. Reports have come out that real progress was being made when the news came out that the writers had already gone on strike on the east coast. At that point talks broke down.
There was no real attempt at preventing the strike on the part of writers guild. To me it sounds like a PR disaster in the making. If I was in charge of the writers guild you hold off for a few hours and if talks break down because one side or the other is unwilling to give on an issue fine strike. But they walked when all the reports said both side had already agreed on several of the major issues and most people felt like real progress was being made.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:47PM
Shayera said...
The HuffPo is reporting that Jon Stewart will pay the writers on his show out of his own pocket for the next two weeks while they're out on strike. And also possibly the writers on Colbert's show.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:36PM
Colin said...
I mean this with all due sense of couriosity, but am I missing something here. I figure if a show is doing better, selling more, etc...a bonus should be rewarded, but can someone explain to me why someone should be paid more tomorrow for the same thing they are doing today. I understand a writer is paid to write a TV show but what does distribution have anything to do with it? If I was hired to write "X" by "Company Y" why should what "Company Y" do with "X" matter in my oay?
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:38PM
Kenban said...
Don't just assume the writers deserve a lot of money. We have no idea how much they are getting paid and how much they get for different forms of media already. Its foolish to just say they deserve a lot more.
Bad union contracts have almost driven the US car companies and the airlines out of business.
The writers deserve to get reasonable compensation for their work. But I think the writers guild or at least the negotiators decided that they were going to strike almost no matter what. Reports have come out that real progress was being made when the news came out that the writers had already gone on strike on the east coast. At that point talks broke down.
There was no real attempt at preventing the strike on the part of writers guild. To me it sounds like a PR disaster in the making. If I was in charge of the writers guild you hold off for a few hours and if talks break down because one side or the other is unwilling to give on an issue fine strike. But they walked when all the reports said both side had already agreed on several of the major issues and most people felt like real progress was being made.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:39PM
Kenban said...
Sorry about the double post...
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 12:50PM
Tom said...
I can’t believe the people here who just say “give the writers whatever they want”
Look, I believe in residuals for writers (for reasons I’ll detail below) but at the same time realize that it’s unfair that they get them. No other industry in the world enjoys the same type of arrangement.
To give an example, before I moved into management I wrote computer programs for a living. When I did that someone would come to me and say “we need a computer program” I would then write them a program and they would then pay me for having written that program. If I were like a writer I’d get money every time someone used that program for work ON TOP OF the money they’d already paid me to write it in the first place.
It’s ridiculous.
That being said, there aren’t as many jobs for writers as there are for computer programmers and in order for most writers to make a living they have to get some kind of residual. I get that and that is why I’m for residuals. But for them to stand up and make unreasonable demands is just insane.
I’m not on either side here because I think the best answer is a compromise but Kenban is right when he says that the Writer’s Guild hasn’t made any effort to compromise thus far and that is unreasonable.
Reply
11-05-2007 @ 1:21PM
Ravi said...
@Jen
If its any consolation, I'm 19 now and I'll definitely remember all of the great shows being taken out of commission.
Correct me if I'm wrong someone, but back in '88 (when I was born!) comedies simply weren't at the level they are at now -- I'm going to miss all of the smart humor.
Oh well, time to catch up on It's Always Sunny in the meantime...
Reply