One of the things I enjoy about Doonesbury is that they have a small poll on their website called The Watercooler. The most recent edition deals with recent writer's strike. I've been unable to find a way to link to the poll, so I've reproduced it here:
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A breakdown of talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has lead 13,000 WGA members to go on strike. An estimated 340,000 people in the entertainment and related industries may eventually suffer economically as a result. But enough about them...
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| What's the main impact for you, the viewer? |
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| A
Anger. Bad enough to be deprived of essential-to-life shows during a Golden Age of Television Writing, but a dramatic proliferation of reality programming is a very real threat. Put me down as steamed.
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| B
Sympathy. Since online ads are driving me crazy, I know somebody's making money off video content on the net. Stop denying there's a pie, Hollywood, and cut the writers a slice.
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| C
Horrified. We have two wars, a mortgage meltdown, a currency in freefall and Detroit on the ropes. So let's nuke Big Entertainment, the only industry we still own? Who wrote that scenario?
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| Viewing habits |
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| A Intense |
B Moderate |
C Light |
In looking at those results (which are non-scientific) what I find the most interesting is that sympathy is relatively consistent across the board, but the other two relate directly to how much TV you watch. Basically, you watch a lot and your entertainment is a higher priority, you watch a little and the US economy is a priority. Interesting.
As far as the writers are concerned, I think their timing is off. The reality today is that the on-line programming business model is in flux, no one really knows how it's going to work out. This makes the studios uncomfortable making a deal, which then stalls negotiations. They'd be better off signing a short term contract with some "intent" statements in it and negotiate more fully when the business issues are fleshed out.
