Writers strike

I happen to be in LA this week so I’m seeing lots of new about the looming writers strike.

Writers on strike?

Believe it or not those charming airheads on the tube don’t write the words that come out of their mouths. A back office of writers keeps the game going.

Now those writers are on the verge of walking off the job. Their complaint is that they’re not receiving compensation for DVD sales and other digital repackaging of their work.

Is this really a big deal?

Yes it is for two reasons, one micro and one macro…

On the micro level, a writers strike shuts a big part of the entertainment industry down.  In the LA area alone, that’s 200,000 people.  The last writers strike, which was quite prolonged, cost the California economy a few billion dollars.

The macro level is a little more interesting.

The last time there was a writers strike there was no such thing as Internet video and certainly no such thing as user-generated Internet video content.

If this strike takes place, many popular television programs will be forced to run archived shows. During the last writers strike, viewers grumbled at being served up “leftover” fare. This time around they have an option: the Internet.

The Internet has relentlessly been stealing eyeballs from TV – with TV offering its best stuff. What will happen when TV is offering crap?

This strike may prove to be historic for reasons the writers union and entertainment industry may not like.

– Ken McCarthy

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