Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: nytimes.com This has been affecting awards shows, new shows and even talk shows. Could it finally be over?

It's a brand new year. 2008; brand new resolution, brand new goals, brand new TV shows- wait- where are the brand new TV shows? So like me, some of you probably have missed the season premiers of your favorite shows, perhaps even the season finale of your favorite shows.

The writer's strike began nearly three months ago on Nov. 5th, 2007, but don't worry TV watchers, the strike is possibly nearing an end. Many of you are probably wondering how and why this is happening in the first place.

Every three years, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) negotiate a contract called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). The MBA basically holds contracts to DVD residuals, New Media, and Reality programming. Unfortunately, an agreement was not established at the time of their meeting. But don't be alarmed, this isn't the first strike for the Writers Guild.

The first strike took place in 1960 and lasted for almost six months. Another one took place in 1988 and lasted five months. Since those were resolved, this one will likely resolve as well.

Now the writer's strike of 2007-2008 has a new contract covering over 10,000 film and TV writers coming to an agreement. Disputes were raised between writers and studios over a pay raise for DVD and internet sales. Films would be sold between $20-$100 per movie, and the writers would receive 0.3 percent of the first million or reportable gross, and 0.36 percent after. The proposal now is to raise that residual to 0.6 percent per DVD sold. There is now talk that the biggest concern is new media compensation. The AMPTP has proposed that the new media proposal goes along with the DVD residual, but this proposal was denied by the WGA.

The WGA removed that proposal and is still waiting to come to an agreement with the AMPTP. This forced many networks to come up with reality TV to be shown in place of their hit shows that acquire many viewers. The Golden Globes ceremony was merely an hour long show of announcing the winners, which also caused a loss of money for the industry

Many actors are in support of the WGA and will not cross the picket line until something is resolved. The Academy Awards are still being held as scheduled, but the president of the Awards is hoping that an agreement will happen before then. Having the Academy Awards could be a boost for the WGA and put everything back in place. Comedian Jon Stewart is the planned host of the Awards show, but said that he is unlikely to cross the picket line due to his strong support of the writer's guild. If the strike does end in time, the awards will be held on Feb. 24th at 8p.m. on ABC.

Nearly 100 shows from local stations have been cancelled due to the writers strike and many films have been delayed. Films such as Angels and Demons, the sequel to The DaVinci Code, and two films starring Johnny Depp have been postponed. TV

The strike has already cost industries such as NBC over $1 billion to date. It has also cost other studios millions of dollars.

A recent survey put together by Carat, a media communication company, shows that 16 percent of respondents said that they would continue to watch reruns of their favorite shows for the next three to six months. This is one way to keep viewers without losing any money. This survey also mentions that patterns in prime-time watching have changed due to the fact that people are now surfing through channels or finding replacement TV shows.

Stations such as CBS have recently explored other options and have said to pick up on a Canadian made CTV police drama for the time being of this strike.

Lionsgate and MGM studios have reached agreements with writers, and critics believe that the strike could end within a week or so.

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