Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 11:32 AM PT

 

Writers Guild Strike Looms Large

Another day, another step closer to a Writers Guild of America strike. Yesterday the existing contract between writers and producers expired, and tonight the WGA will meet to decide whether to keep threatening to strike or to actually walk out. We’ve been covering the escalating tensions for the last six months, so you might say we’ve done it to death, but, c’mon, that can’t really be true since a strike still hasn’t been authorized.

For background: A strike would first affect news-oriented comedy shows, which depend on writers. People associated with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, for example, have told the Associated Press they’ll resort to re-runs. And as new episodes of all sorts of shows start to peter out, there are opportunities — as we’ve written many times — for online video to step in and fill people’s need for entertainment. It’s one of the more ironic twists of this battle, considering the writers’ negotiations center around revenue associated with their work being distributed on the Internet.

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Topic: Money & Power

Comments (1)

  • Thanks for the extensive coverage!

    Word just came down that a strike is officially happening. For sure, online video series will keep being cranked out. Maybe this will convert more mainstream audiences… :)

    Frank Sinton11:45 PM on November 1, 2007 Reply

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