Splice Now

With the WGA and AMPTP now slated to resume negotiations after the Thanksgiving holiday there may be a ray of hope for the resumption of production.

The producers had said they’d never sit down again while a strike was proceeding, and now it seems that this was just negotiating bluster. Needless to say, both sides try to sound as tough as they can during this process — that’s what negotiations are all about.

In this vein, the producers have floated the idea that the strike will turn out to be a net positive for them. They’ll just air reruns or new reality shows and, after the strike hits its sixth week, they’ll be able to use “force majeure” clauses to break various development and production deals that they’ve wanted out of.

But here’s the rub — are audiences really that stupid? Do they really not notice the difference between reruns and original programming? Do new reality shows have a guaranteed audience? Frankly, I doubt it.

To see it otherwise is to assume that it doesn’t matter what’s on the air — the suckers in the audience are going to watch anyway. That breaks the oldest rule in the book: “Never underestimate your audience.” TV may be addictive, but there are plenty of other screens available now and when the public gets bored, they’re going to go elsewhere.

Hopefully, cooler heads are going to prevail, and the parties will find a way to share the wealth. Unlike most of the news coverage so far, an article in today’s NY Times offers some specifics about the deal points in question using webisodes of “Lost” as an example.

Technorati Tags: media and society

With the IA striking theaters in New York and the WGA striking the studios, IA president Tom Short wrote to WGAw president Patric Verrone Tuesday, saying, “I have warned you and predicted the devastation that would come from your action. Those predictions have now come true. … It’s time to put egos aside and recognize how crucial it is to get everyone back to work before there is irreversible damage from which this industry can never recover.” (NY Times. Variety.)

Verrone responded, saying, “for every four cents writers receive in theaterical residuals, directors receive four cents, actors receive 12 cents and the members of your union receive 20 cents in contributions to their health fund. … To put it simply, our fight should be your fight.”

Meanwhile, Variety reported on a pair of polls showing wide public support for the writers: a Pepperdine poll showed support at 69% vs 4% for the producers and a SurveyUSA poll came up with 63% vs 8%.

Technorati Tags: media and society