Neither side seems ready to budge anytime soon, so I think we'll be having a very short TV season this year. Heroes has already been cut to half a season, ending at the end of Chapter 2, and reportedly having had to film an alternate ending to make it fit as a season finale. Not only that, but they've cancelled Heroes Origins.

Comedys may be most affected, apparently scripted sitcoms have their scripts written the week they're filmed and are being tweaked on the day they shoot. This is different to drama shows where they may have a backlog of scripts which means they can film several more episodes. But if the strikes lasts too many more weeks, our favourite TV shows will be cut very short.

Big shows like 24 can survive that, but for new shows like Pushing Daisies or Chuck, it could prove to be a killer.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I cant wait any longer for the next 24 *cries*

Yes I remember the 1988 one, thats why the second season of TNG is short, and contains a clipshow, and a reused script from the 70's (The Child). Unfortunately there was much less in the way of quality tv to be disrupted back then.

If you're interested in following the news from the strike, I think the Los Angeles Times is a good place to look for information. It makes sense that they would cover the whole thing pretty extensively.

I found a pretty good grid in the LA Times that shows many of the major television shows, along with whether or not they're still in production, and the number of episodes they managed to complete at this point in the season. I'd like to give you the link so you can go and take a look at it if you'd like. I have no idea how to do it, so I'm just going to list the URL here.

www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-striketvgrid-html,0,1749384.htmlstory

Thanks Sandia

That's a really useful link.

Yeps very useful indeed. It's a shame that a lot of the shows I like to watch seem to be seriously impacted by this..... lets hope that they come to some agreement soon.

Can anyone explain exactly what this dispute is about?

After reading about it in the 'Dollhouse' thread I went-a-Googling, and it seems to resolve around something called "Internet residuals", which I understand to be the royalties a writer is paid for the use of their work on the 'net. Thing is (again with the 'Dollhouse' angle) Joss Whedon claims it's all a plot by studios to break the writers.

Sounds more convoluted than the plots in 'Buffy' season seven. So any analysis by those who know muchly appreciated!

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by Byron
it seems to resolve around something called "Internet residuals", which I understand to be the royalties a writer is paid for the use of their work on the 'net.

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writers get royalties everytime one of their shows is broadcast (similar to the way bands get paid when one of their songs is played on the radio) 0- they are also technically due for a payment for every DVD boxset (not sure if the existing agreement covers this), and for every PAID internet download (through iTunes or whatever - EZTV or mininova dont count!) - this DEFINATELY isnt covered by the last agreement.
the writers only want what they are owed, but, just like the RIAA, the studios dont want to give those extra bits out without a fight.

its highly unlikely this will be resolved before the end of november - so far, its only talk shows that have been affected (in broadcast terms, at least), but but in the next couple of weeks, a hell of a lot of shows will start to quietly vanish as they run out of completed episodes.
expect the US schedules to be rather quiet by the first week of december.
even if they resolve this situation by the beginning of december, there wont be much new broadcast material until march, at the earliest, as re-starting production takes a hell of a long time.
which is why most shows this year are planning truncated seasons.

I was under the impression they are striking because they want more "royalties" for DVD sales as the original figure is based on VHS tapes and seeing as the production costs of the DVD disks themselves is considerably lower than VHS tapes they want a bigger slice of the pie and of course a share of the revenue derived from content on the internet, mobile phones and other electronic devices.

As I understand it, the main issue is what they call residuals--the fees the writers get when their work is reused in other media, such as DVDs, Internet, cell phones, and so on. So you're all essentially on the right track.

I think the writers get three or four cents per DVD right now, and they want more. I'm not sure they get anything for other uses such as the Internet. The studios/producers don't want to give in on this, and haven't so far.

I found a VERY brief list of the main issues in the LA Times, and here's the link. Hope this works.

www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-fi-strike1nov01-sidebar,1,792521.htmlstory?coll=la-utilities-entnews&ctrack=6&cset=true

Some of you are more optimistic than me. I think this strike will drag on well into 2008. I can see it completely taking out the rest of this TV season (in terms of scripted primetime shows) and even affecting the new season next fall. Pilots will have to start shooting by spring. If the strike is still on, no pilots for the new season.

As far as the effect here on TV, not much yet that I can see. November is one of the "sweeps" months--the time when networks set their advertisement prices based on the number of viewers a show gets. So the networks are making sure they broadcast whatever new episodes they have available this month. The repeats will start in December. But that's not anything out of the ordinary, because even during normal times, networks here generally run repeats of scripted shows in December and into January. When the next sweeps month comes up--which is February--the networks will then burn off any other new episodes they still have in the can. Then the networks will also bring in their new reality shows, old reality shows, and shows such as Lost that were scheduled to start in mid-season anyway--expecting that we'll all just watch that. So, I don't see the networks hurting at all for "product" for some time. And if they're not getting hurt in any way in terms of revenue, they have no incentive to sit down and talk.

I totally support the writers. But I also worry about all the other people--ordinary folks who aren't wealthy who work in that industry--who will be out of work for months and really can't afford to go that long without a paycehck. Sure, the major actors, directors, and producers will do ok. The studio executives will do ok. But what about the secretaries and the carpenters and the maintenance guys, the electricians, the guy who works in the deli across the street from the studio that gets laid off because there are no customers coming in for lunch or dinner anymore. The entertainment business employs several hundred thousand people in the Los Angeles area directly and indirectly--and most of them are just middle class folks with groceries to buy and mortgages or rent to pay. Somebody needs to think about those people.

Anyway, there seem to be a lot of folks trying to come up with creative solutions to force the two sides back to the table. Hope it works. But I think part of the solution is in getting the viewing public involved. The networks just assume we'll watch whatever they put on--new reality shows, game shows, repeats of repeats, and all the other crap they're planning. I think the solution is for the American public to register its disgust by turning off their TVs. If ratings plummet, then ad revenues plummet. Maybe that'll get their attention. Problem is, somebody would have to organize it, and organizing the American public to do anything is about as easy as herding cats--really annoying cats.

(Edited by Sandia 10/11/2007 16:58)

theres a fair few shows that have already "gone dark" - production has completely shut down, and staff have been laid off.
mostly, this is the talk and chat shows, but there are also most of the comedies, and a couple of dramas.
jon stewart has said that hes going to pay the wages of the crew on both the daily show and the colbert report for two weeks - a lot of the staff have been with the show for years, and he wants to repay the loyalty that has made him a household name, even if its going to cost him a fortune.
elsewhere, cast and crew of various shows are having to cut right back, hoping that the nets and the writers can sort this out as soon as possible, because the only ones who arent hurting with this are the networks.

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by Sandia
I totally support the writers. But I also worry about all the other people--ordinary folks who aren't wealthy who work in that industry--who will be out of work for months and really can't afford to go that long without a paycehck.

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Good point.

I don't know whether I support the writers or not (need to know if the increased revenue they're demanding is reasonable) but even if I did support them in principle, I too would ask if the issue justifies the collatoral damage caused by a strike.

Or to put it bluntly, whathever the economic rights and wrongs, Hollywood writers aren't exactly hard up are they?

OK, maybe some are, but like you say, I imagine they'll be better off than the people losing their paychecks over this.

Here's another link saying what's happening with various shows so far...
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a79648/us-strike-show-status-scrubs-finale-news.html

I have to say that 5c a DVD does seem like a total rip off when DVDs are so overpriced to consumers anyway.

OK, here's something else that might be of interest...

This is an Op-Ed from The New York Times this past Sunday written by Damon Lindelof, who's a member of the Writer's Guild and the creator/executive producer of Lost. He concentrates on the way new media will affect what we now call television shows (he thinks television as we know it will go the way of the dinosaur), and why it's necessary for the writers to get their piece of that new media pie. Not taking a stand on the article. I just found it interesting and thought I'd share.

www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/opinion/11lindelof.html


By the way, nice link Sydney.

5 cents per DVD doesn't seem that much however if that is per writer or per episode (especially if it's a boxset) it does add up. The majority of the cost of creating DVDs goes into all the extra stuff / additional audio streams / menus / artwork / encoding / creating the masters etc presuming you are able to pay for the original creation of the content by the revenue from ads when it originally was aired on TV or shown in cinema.

The actual reproduction is very inexpensive, normally less than a dollar a disk. However the majority of the profit is made in the distribution chain.

The DVD market is a fairly known one and although growing it is pretty predictable for the next couple of years and has a pretty stable price level. The real problem is going to be the "new media" payments. Nobody really knows what single TV eps need to cost to be "interesting" to consumers. At the moment the price of online TV eps is relatively high, and these prizes will most likely be coming down for them to become really popular (like the 99 cents business model of Apple music store). If I agree a price based on the $2.49 price level (for example 2.5 cents) this would now be 1% of the total cost however if the required price level for TV shows to get sufficient market penetration is $1 than 2.5 cents all of a sudden is a lot more especially as 50% of that $1 will have to go to the store to cover the bandwidth / online shop etc. All in all not very simple stuff especially considering the consequences it can have on how these new media channels will eventually develop.

I'm personally pretty much against striking as it's pretty counter productive and generally has negative impacts throughout the entire supply chain and generally doesn't hurt the people they are trying to persuade. In certain countries striking seems to have become second nature and I've even seen people striking because they weren't getting fired (yes you're reading that right!).

If the two parties cannot come to an agreement (even with arbitration) than just put the decision up to a specialised 3rd party and let them decide. Seeing as any outcome is going to be a compromise anyways, you might as well get it out of the way with without causing all the additional damage.

Read an interesting perspective over here on LJ the other day. Apparently the SWG had to "win" the screenwiters the right to be invited to the premiere of the movie they wrote. As far as I understand, writers are treated fairly appallingly by the industry and I support anyone fighting for a fair deal. As Sandia says, though, there may well be victims among the minor production staff (runners, PA's, set dressers and the like)who can't afford to lose a regular pay cheque. Here's hoping the Powers That Be get around a table and settle it soon.

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Source IMDB
Writers Made Millions for Last-Minute Scripts, Says WSJ
In the run-up to the strike by the Writers Guild of America last week, screenwriters rushed completion of dozens of scripts and turned them in to studio executives, receiving in return tens of millions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Wednesday). According to the newspaper, which cited people familiar with the matter, the studios promptly cut checks to the writers, with Universal Pictures alone paying out more than $10 million to writers who delivered some 40 scripts. Warner Bros. received an additional 40 last-minute scripts and Sony Pictures, between 30 and 40. Studio executives told the Journal that while some screenplays were clearly rush jobs, others were close to camera-ready.

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Now that really does make you wonder...... threaten with a strike to get more money for DVD and new media releases and make millions on the side for "rush jobs".

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by Kate
there may well be victims among the minor production staff (runners, PA's, set dressers and the like)

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theres no "may well be" about it.
as an example, the US version of The Office has 14 writers - with the shutdown of production, 102 staff have been laid off, most of whom earn less than half of what the writers do.
although i have some sympathy with the writers, seeing as the networks arent paying them what they are due, the people i feel sorry for are those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, but because someone earning more than them wanted even more.