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Reaction by actors to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike
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Striking writers and supporters raise signs at a WGAW rally in Los Angeles.
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, or more commonly known as the Writers' Strike was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW).[1] The WGAE and WGAW labor unions represent film, television and radio writers working in the United States. More than 12,000 writers joined the strike[2] which started on November 5, 2007, and concluded on February 12, 2008.[3]
The strike was against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization representing the interests of 397 American film and television producers.[4] The most influential of these are eight corporations: CBS Corporation (headed by Les Moonves), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (headed by Harry E. Sloan), NBC Universal (headed by Jeffrey Zucker), News Corp/Fox (headed by Peter Chernin), Paramount Pictures (headed by Brad Grey), Sony Pictures Entertainment (headed by Michael Lynton), the Walt Disney Company (headed by Robert Iger), and Warner Brothers (headed by Barry M. Meyer).[5]
Negotiators for the striking writers reached a tentative agreement on February 8, 2008, and the boards of both guilds unanimously approved the deal on February 10, 2008.[6] Striking writers voted on February 12, 2008 on whether to lift the restraining order, with 92.5% voting to end the strike.[7] On February 26, the WGA announced that the contract had been ratified with a 93.6% approval among WGA members.[8]
The guilds were on strike for 14 weeks and 2 days (100 days).[9] In contrast, the previous strike in 1988, the longest in history, lasted 21 weeks and 6 days (153 days), costing the American entertainment industry an estimated $500 million ($870 million in 2007 dollars).[10][11]
According to an NPR report filed on February 12, 2008, the strike cost the economy of Los Angeles an estimated $1.5 billion. A report from the UCLA Anderson School of Management put the loss at $380 million, while economist Jack Kyser put the loss at $2.1 billion.[12][13]
Issues in the strike
We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working, but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations.
AMPTP president Nick Counter[14] |
Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable.
WGA Negotiating Committee[15] |
Every three years, the Writers Guild negotiates a new basic contract with the AMPTP by which its members are employed. This contract is called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA).[16] In 2007, negotiations over the MBA reached an impasse and the WGA membership voted to give its board authorization to call a strike, which it did on Friday, November 2, 2007; the strike began the following Monday, November 5, 2007.
Among the many proposals from both sides regarding the new contract, there were several key issues of contention including DVD residuals, union jurisdiction over animation and reality program writers, and compensation for "new media" (content written for or distributed through emerging digital technology such as the Internet).[17]
DVD residuals
Background
In 1988 the Writers Guild went on strike over the home video market, which was then small and primarily consisted of distribution via video tape. At that time, the entertainment companies argued home video was an "unproven" market, with an expensive delivery channel (manufacturing VHS and Betamax tapes, and to a much smaller extent, Laserdisc). Movies were selling in the range of between $40-$100 per tape, and the Guild accepted a formula in which a writer would receive a small percentage (0.3%) of the first million of reportable gross (and 0.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual. As manufacturing costs for video tapes dropped dramatically and the home video market exploded, writers came to feel they had been shortchanged by this deal.[18] DVDs debuted in 1996 and rapidly replaced the more-expensive VHS format, becoming the dominant format around 2001. The previous VHS residual formula continued to apply to DVDs.
At present, the home video market is the major source of revenue for the movie studios. In April 2004, the New York Times reported the companies made $4.8 billion in home video sales versus $1.78 billion at the box office between January and March.[19]
Proposals
WGA members argued that a writer's residuals, or profits made from subsequent airings or purchases of a program, are a necessary part of a writer's income that is typically relied upon during periods of unemployment common in the writing industry. The WGA requested a doubling of the residual rate for DVD sales, which would result in a residual of 0.6% (up from 0.3%) per DVD sold.[20]
The AMPTP maintained that studios' DVD income was necessary to offset rising production and marketing costs.[18] They further insisted that the current DVD formula (0.3%) be applied to residuals in other digital media — an area which was also contested by the Writers Guild.
The WGA provisionally removed the increased DVD residual request from the table, in an effort to avert a strike and on the understanding of certain concessions by the AMPTP, the night before the strike began. However, after the strike began, WGAW President Patric M. Verrone wrote that the membership exhibited "significant disappointment and even anger" when they learned of the proposed removal of the request; and Verrone also wrote that, since the removal of the increased DVD residual request was contingent on concessions by the AMPTP which did not happen, the writers would and should continue to "fight to get our fair share of the residuals of the future." [21]
New media
One of the critical issues for the negotiations was residuals for "new media", or compensation for delivery channels such as Internet downloads, IPTV, streaming, smart phone programming, straight-to-Internet content, and other "on-demand" online distribution methods, along with video on demand on cable and satellite television.[22]
Background
Currently, the WGA has no arrangement with the companies regarding the use of content online, and two models of Internet distribution are currently being negotiated. The first is "electronic sell-through" (also known as "Internet sales" or "digital sell-through"). In electronic sell-through, the consumer purchases a copy of the program and downloads it to a local storage device for subsequent viewing at their convenience. Examples include movies and television shows purchased through the iTunes Store and Amazon Unbox. In the second model, "streaming video", the consumer watches a program in real time as it is transmitted to their computer but is usually not saved. Current examples of this model include advertising-supported television programs streamed free to the audience, such as those available at nbc.com, abc.com, fox.com, cbs.com, thedailyshow.com, and hulu.com.
In either case, the program may be viewed directly on a computer or on a traditional television via media distribution devices (e.g. TiVo). The convenience of both these technologies lowers the barriers to entry into the digital distribution marketplace making it more accessible to mainstream consumers.
It is widely expected by industry observers that new media will eventually supplant both DVD in the home video market and television in the broadcasting market as the primary means for distribution.[23][24][25][26][27][28] As in the mid-1980s, the companies argued that new media represents an unproven and untested market and asked for additional time for study. However, feeling resentment from the 20-year-old home video deal and unwilling to make similar concessions in a so-called "new market" yet again, WGA members remained adamant that whatever deal they made for new media, it could not resemble the DVD formula.
New media was widely seen by most WGA writers as the central issue for the strike. Writer-director Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3) has dubbed new media "the One Issue" that matters. [29]
This sentiment was further articulated by a self-described "skeptic", writer Howard Gould, at a meeting of the full WGA membership the night before the strike date was announced. He said, to a standing ovation:
| “ |
Soon, when computers and your TV are connected, that's how we're all going to watch. Okay? Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don't make a stand now. ... This is such a big issue that if they see us roll over on this without making a stand - three years from now, they're gonna be back for something else. ... I might have been the most moderate one up here when we started, but I sat there in the room the first day and they read us those thirty-two pages of rollbacks. And what they wanted us to hear was that "if you don't give us what [we] want on the important thing, we're gonna come after you for all those other things." But what I heard was, if we give them that thing, they'll still come after us for those other things. And in three years, it'll be "we want to revamp the whole residual system," and in another three years, it'll be "y'know what, we don't really want to fund the health fund the way we've been." And then it will be pension. And then it'll be credit determination. And there just is that time when everybody has to see—this is one where we just gotta stand our ground.[30] |
” |
Jurisdiction in reality and animation
The WGA's membership of approximately 12,000 writers (more than 7,000 in WGAW and more than 4,000 in WGAE) primarily work on live-action, script-driven movies and television programs.[31]
Exactly if and how the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) should apply to other TV and film categories such as reality television and animation had been inconsistent over the years and were an area of much dispute.
The WGA had been pushing for jurisdiction of reality and animation, but have recently dropped these issues as the WGA and AMPTP have entered into informal negotiations.[32][33]
Background
The negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA are at an impasse because the WGA has continued to press a series of unreasonable demands that have nothing to do with new media and the real concerns of most working writers.
AMPTP statement: The State of the Strike: Day 47[34] |
Programs such as Real People and That's Incredible!, which were arguably "reality" shows of the 1980s, were covered by the MBA, whereas more recently produced reality shows such as Survivor and America's Next Top Model are not.[35] Many producers of reality programming argue that since these shows are mostly, if not entirely, unscripted, there is no writer. The WGA counters that the process of creating interesting scenarios, culling raw material, and shaping it into a narrative with conflict, character arc, and storyline constitutes writing and should fall under its contract.
In the summer of 2006, the WGA west attempted to organize employees of America's Next Top Model.[36][37] The employees voted to join the WGA, but then they were fired and production continued without them.
Animated films and TV programs have also been an area of heavy contention. The majority of animated film and television writing is not covered by the WGA's MBA. Most animated feature films have been written under the jurisdiction of another union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 839, also known as The Animation Guild. IATSE's jurisdiction stemmed from Walt Disney's tradition of creating an animated feature via storyboards written and drawn by storyboard artists. In recent years, most studios have begun hiring screenwriters to write script pages which are then storyboarded. According to the WGA, 100% of animated feature film screenplays in 2005 were written by at least one WGA member.[20] Recently, some animated features, such as Beowulf, were written under the WGA contract.[38] The only animated television programs affected by the strike were FOX's The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and American Dad![39]
The WGA and the IATSE have an ongoing disagreement as to which union should represent animation writers.[40]
Current proposals
Regarding reality programming, the WGA had requested contract language clarifying that reality programming does fall under its jurisdiction. They further proposed the adoption of a credit, “Story Producer” and “Supervising Story Producer” to be given to those writers performing story contributions to a reality show.[41]
As for animation, the WGA has proposed clarifying its jurisdiction to cover all animation in TV and film that does not encroach on the jurisdiction of another union.[41] The AMPTP has not agreed to these proposals. WGA president Patric Verrone announced that the reality and animation jurisdiction proposals were formally removed from the table,[42] although organizing efforts in this area are to continue.
Negotiations and strike activity
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The final negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP before the WGA's contracts expired on October 31, 2007[43] began on October 25, but the talks broke down due to the issues surrounding new-media royalties. After the contracts expired, the WGAW held a meeting at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which was attended by 3,000 WGAW members, and the negotiating committee formally recommended a strike,[44] after which the WGAE and the WGAW officially announced that the strike would begin at 12:01 AM on November 5.[45][46] In a last-ditch conciliation to try to avoid the strike, the WGA temporarily withdrew its DVD proposal on November 4, but the companies still insisted on a lack of residual for new media,[47] and the talks subsequently broke down, with both sides accusing the other of walking out.[48] Thus, on November 5, nearly 3,000 WGAW members, plus additional SAG and Teamsters members, picketed or refused to cross the picket lines at 14 targeted studios in Los Angeles,[21] and many more Writers Guild of America East picketers marched in locations in New York including Rockefeller Center. The picket lines continued, along with various rallies, throughout the strike period in both cities.
Following four days of targeted picketing, a large rally was held outside the Fox studios in Los Angeles on Friday, November 9, drawing an estimated 4,000 WGAW members and supporters, including a sizeable number of SAG members.[49] Speakers included WGA West president Patric M. Verrone, Family Guy/American Dad! creator Seth MacFarlane, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and producer Norman Lear. The rally was opened with a two-song performance by Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello (as The Nightwatchman) of Rage Against the Machine.[50]
On November 16, 2007, both the WGA and the AMPTP made the following announcement: "Leaders from the WGA and the AMPTP have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26. No other details or press statements will be issued."[51] The AMPTP then submitted a new proposal to the WGA on November 29, 2007 reportedly worth an additional $130 million in compensation. The WGA responded that it did not understand how the $130 million figure had been calculated, but was pleased the AMPTP was proposing figures in that range. Both sides agreed to a four-day recess at the WGA's request. Talks were resumed on December 4.
Following a renewed push on jurisdiction in reality programming by the WGA, including a rally outside North American headquarters of non-signatory reality producer FremantleMedia, talks again broke off on December 7 when the AMPTP walked away from the table, issuing a press release that they would return only upon the WGA dropping several key proposals, among them the reality proposal.[52] This move had been predicted by reporter Nikki Finke and others, many of whom suspected the AMPTP was intentionally delaying negotiations so that it could terminate unwanted production contracts via force majeure.[53] According to Wall Street, the impact of accepting all of WGA's proposals was "largely negligible" and "financially small", suggesting that the studios were afraid that reaching a favorable settlement with the writers might "embolden directors and actors in their coming renegotiations."[54]
In mid-December, the WGA announced plans to try to negotiate with individual production companies to end the impasse.[55] The AMPTP and WGA agreed to resume informal talks in an effort to organize formal negotiations on January 19, 2008.[56] This was accepted and both parties decided to go back to the negotiating table as of that date, however the president of the WGA had ordered a media black-out, with no WGA employees reporting any news to the media. WGA President Patric Verrone did, however, report on January 22 that the animation and reality jurisdiction proposals had been dropped.
On January 25, it was announced that the WGA had made an interim agreement with Lions Gate and Marvel Studios. However, the AMPTP has commented on these types of agreements as "meaningless", although talks between them and WGA continued and many critics believed the strike could be over within two weeks.[57]
On February 2, 2008, despite a media blackout agreed to by both parties during unofficial negotiations, multiple media reports suggested there had been significant progress involving breakthroughs on key issues in the talks. Further reporting suggested that by the end of the business week starting February 4, 2008, a contract proposal might be announced.[58][59][60] Pro-WGA blog UnitedHollywood.com confirmed that "creative solutions to the biggest differences between the AMPTP and the WGA have gotten the tentative and cautious approval of both sides", but cautions that the specific legal language has not yet been drafted.[61] The next day, rumors continued to mount; Deadlinehollywooddaily.com reported that Peter Chernin had told fellow Super Bowl XLII attendees that "the strike is over."[62]
This is not over. Nor is it close. Until the moment it is over, it can never be close. Because if we see the finish line we will flag and they are absolutely counting on us to do that. In the room, reason. On the streets, on the net, I say reason is for the 'moderates'. Remember what they've done. Remember what they're trying to take from us. FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.
Joss Whedon[63] |
On February 5, 2008, the WGA leadership scheduled a meeting for active members on Saturday, February 9, 2008 to discuss and gain feedback on a proposed contract.[64] TV executives had described the deadline as February 15 for new material to be produced for the 2007-2008 television season.[65][66] On February 9, 2008, WGA President Patric Verrone emailed the membership announcing that the WGA leadership and AMPTP had reached a tentative deal. The tentative contract proposals were provided to the membership, and a meeting to discuss them as well as future process was scheduled the same day on both coasts.
According to reports, the first deal discussion meeting for WGAE's members, ended on an optimistic note.[67]
The WGA initiated a 48-hour vote on February 10, 2008,to guild members on making a motion on ending the three-month old strike.[68] Voting ended for WGAE at 7PM EST, on February 12, 2008. The WGAW voted from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. PST, and at approximately 6:51 PST, WGA president Patric Verone announced that 92.5% of the membership voted to end the strike. On February 26, about 93.6% of WGA members approved a new three-year contract that would be effective until May 1, 2011, with pay hikes ranging from 3 to 3.5%.[69]
At the beginning of April 2008, about one and a half months after the end of the strike, the Writers Guild of America, East filed lawsuit against the ABC television network and Corday Productions over alleged violations of a strike-termination agreement. The legal basis for the suit was that ABC and Corday continued using strike-replacement writers for the soap operas All My Children and Days of Our Lives rather than allowing the original writers to return to work after the end of the strike.[70]
Strategies and tactics
AMPTP
The WGA organizers are grasping for straws and have never had a coherent strategy for engaging in serious negotiations. The AMPTP may have different companies with different assets in different businesses, but they are all unified in one common goal -- to reach an agreement with writers that positions everyone in our industry for success in a rapidly changing marketplace.
AMPTP spokesman Jesse Hiestand[71] |
Foreseeing the possibility of a strike, production companies accelerated production of films and television episodes in an effort to stockpile enough material to continue regular film releases and TV schedules during the strike period.[72][73] A list of 300 high-priority film projects reportedly circulated around talent agencies in accordance with this effort.[74]
Following the refusal of many showrunners (writer-producers) to cross the picket line in the first week of the strike, production companies sent breach-of-contract letters and suspended many of them without pay.[75]
There was also speculation the companies were seeking out other sources of writing services, including in the UK.[76] The Writers' Guild of Great Britain attempted to thwart this effort, however, by discouraging British union members from participating.[77] Paul Cornell, a writer for several successful television series in the UK, mentioned in a post on his blog on December 14, 2007, that he had declined an approach to cross the WGA picket line and write for an American series.[78]
The AMPTP announced on December 6 that it has hired the public relations services of Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, self-dubbed the "Masters of Disaster", who have previously worked for Democratic politicians (including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Gray Davis) and who, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "earn up to $100,000 a month for pulling their clients out of public relations quicksand."[79][80] The AMPTP also hired former Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt of Mercury Public Affairs in Sacramento.[81]
Fabiani & Lehane's strategy appeared to be to try to weaken the WGA membership's resolve and foment resentment and doubt regarding WGA leadership within its ranks and in the film industry at large, especially with below-the-line workers, by framing the strike as "havoc... wreaked... by the WGA's actions" (paraphrased) and by blaming the WGA for "start[ing] this strike".[82] They also appeared to be attempting to recast language in terms more favorable to the AMPTP, such as referring to WGA negotiators as "organizers" and branding the AMPTP proposals as a "New Economic Partnership".[83]
In response to their work for the AMPTP, Fabiani & Lehane's union clients SEIU Local 99 and Change To Win terminated their contracts with the consultants.[83][84]
WGA
If they gave us everything we had on the table right now, if they gave us everything we wanted—everything—and they then made a deal with the DGA and matched it, which is what they'll do, and then they made a deal with the Screen Actors Guild and tripled it, which is typically what happens…if they did that—if they gave us everything—on a company-by-company basis they would be giving all of us less than each of their CEOs makes in a year. And in some cases, a lot less.
WGAW president Patric Verrone[85] |
It was initially expected that the strike, if it occurred, would be scheduled for the summer of 2008 to coincide with the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's contracts. Instead, the strike started shortly after the WGA's contracts expired. This was apparently done to give the AMPTP less time to stockpile scripts and otherwise prepare for a strike in 2008.[86]
During the pre-strike negotiations, the WGA created "contract captains" in order to keep the general membership informed on a person-to-person basis of the latest developments. Once the strike started, these members became "strike captains," tasked with communication duties as well as helping to coordinate pickets.
The WGA assigned picketers to location shoots in an attempt to shut down production, and set up picket lines in front of studio gates to encourage Teamsters, particularly truck drivers, not to cross the line.[87]
For its second week of picketing, the WGA reduced their studio strike list from fourteen to ten, shifted picketing hours to earlier in the day, and scheduled a series of daily strike themes ranging from "Bring-A-Star-To-Picket-With-You" (also called "Cast Day") to "Bring-Your-Kids" special events.[88][89]
The WGA made a direct appeal to the public to explain the issues behind the strike, including use of online videos and blogs.[50][90] WGA strike captains also encouraged fans to mail pencils to the film and TV moguls en masse.[91][92] They also considered unorthodox methods, including performing a mock exorcism against Warner Bros. and holding the last rites for the former MBA.[93]
Additionally, the WGA appealed to members of crew and industry craft unions, including the Teamsters, and IATSE, some of whom may not have been aware that their union also receives residuals to pay for health and pension programs, and that they were expected to directly benefit from residual gains made by the WGA.[94]
In late December, the WGA announced a new "divide and conquer" strategy designed to break the solidarity of the AMPTP by negotiating strategic interim deals with individual networks, studios, and production companies who were willing to agree to the WGA's proposals. This was intended to put pressure on the other member companies, especially those who were competing with companies that were then able to return to production. The approach resulted in deals with David Letterman's television production company Worldwide Pants,[95][96] another with feature studio United Artists,[97] and a third one with film studio The Weinstein Company.[98] The new strategy contained some risk for the WGA, however, as there was a risk that some members may resent a few writers working while others are still on strike.
On January 14, 2008, two additional side deals were announced by the WGA - one with Media Rights Capital, a production company working on both features and television, and the other with Spyglass Entertainment.[99][100] On January 25, 2008, another side deal was reached; the WGA and Marvel Studios signed an interim comprehensive agreement.[101]
On February 3, 2008, the WGA made a deal with four more filmmakers in New York City.[102]
Effect on television
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Production employees
Because production ceased for all scripted television programming, hundreds or thousands of support staff were laid off by the studios. The AMPTP estimated that WGA writers and crewmembers in the IATSE union lost $342.8 million in wages.[103]
Shows
All scripted Hollywood shows except October Road were expected to shut down by the week of December 19, 2007.[104] Hollywood journalist Nikki Finke reported, "CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now."[105]
Within the first week of the strike, AMPTP-member companies fired writers' assistants, production assistants, and other lower-level staffers working on shut down programs. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane called this a "desperate, punitive act" and called on "all show-runners whose assistants are terminated, if you have the means, keep paying your assistants because this strike is about the little guys."[106]
Of the "Big Four" networks—CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX—NBC had the most severe ad shortfall as its prime time ratings declined sharply; none of its new shows achieved breakout success.[107] Moreover, during 2007, NBC saw its prime time 18-to-49-year-old viewership drop by 11%. CBS dropped the same demographic by 10%, and ABC lost 5%.[108] Fox executive Peter Chernin suggested the strike is "probably a positive" for the network, as he expected its non-WGA reality hit American Idol to do especially well given reduced competition.[109]
Although both are WGA members who pledged support for the writers, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien announced that following the collapse of negotiations, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien would return to air on January 2, 2008, without writers, citing their non-writing staff facing layoffs as the main reason.[110][111]
Unlike Leno and O'Brien, whose talk shows are produced and owned by their respective networks, David Letterman owns his own independent production company, Worldwide Pants, which on December 28 announced an "interim agreement" with the WGA. This agreement allowed his talk show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to air with writers during the strike under terms contained in the WGA's previously-rejected proposals to the AMPTP.
The guild stated it had no plans to target Leno and O'Brien with protests[112] such as were aimed at non-WGA member Carson Daly, who was accused of setting up a joke hotline as a strike-breaking effort[113] when he returned to air.[114] After being back on air, however, Leno was charged by WGA of strike violation after he penned and delivered monologues, but it is unclear as to what action the guild will take.[115][116][117] Later, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced that their shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, would also return without writers on January 7, 2008.[118] The WGA accused Comedy Central and NBC of forcing hosts back on air by threatening the jobs of the staff and crew of their shows, and said it would picket them.[110][114][119][120] To show respect to the writers, The Daily Show was renamed, for the duration of the strike, A Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Similarly, The Colbert Report was rebranded as The Colbert Report (with hard T's) for its first new episode since the strike began. In support of the strike, Screen Actors Guild urged its members to appear on programs that have independent agreements with the WGA, such as The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.[121]
Since returning to air, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report have had increased ratings. As of the end of January 2008, The Daily Show was up 17% for viewers between 18-34 from January 2007 and up 9% for 18-49 year olds in the same period. The Colbert Report is up 21% for 18-34 year olds and 15% for 18-49 year olds over the same time period. By contrast, Tonight with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson have experienced a fall in ratings since last year, while the Late Show with David Letterman remained level.
| Late night ratings averages for the week of January 21-25, 2008 |
| Show |
Viewers |
18-49 |
| Jay Leno |
5.0 M
|
1.5 M |
| David Letterman |
3.7 M
|
1.1 M |
| Nightline |
3.0 M
|
0.9 M |
| Conan O'Brien |
2.0 M
|
0.8 M |
| Craig Ferguson |
1.7 M
|
0.6 M |
| Jimmy Kimmel |
1.4 M
|
0.5 M |
| Carson Daly |
1.1 M
|
0.4 M |
One reason given for the increase in Daily Show and Colbert Report ratings was the current presidental election, allowing them a large amount of political humor to use. However, one journalist commented that the raise of ratings in these two shows without the writers, "has to be a big PR setback for the WGA."[122]
After the strike began, more unscripted shows were ordered by networks, most coming from the reality genre.
Entertainment award telecasts
The writers' strike also created turmoil for various entertainment awards that were broadcasted on television. Many awards were severely curtailed or canceled as a result.
As a result of the the Screen Actors Guild's solidarity with the WGA, they gave the SAG a waiver on December 11 granting permission for guild writers to create material for the 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards which was shown on TNT and TBS on January 27.[123] The WGA also issued one nine days later allowing writers to write material for Film Independent's Spirit Awards on February 23.[124]
On December 18, the WGA announced it would not issue waivers for the Golden Globes Awards and Academy Awards (Oscars) ceremonies. SAG also decided not to support the Golden Globes, which left the award ceremony without presenters and accepters.[125][126] Labor experts stated that this move was "an attempt by the guild to bring the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers back to the bargaining table."[127]
The People's Choice Awards, which was also denied a waiver, stated it would have to revamp the format of the ceremony by releasing a taped ceremony for January 8 telecast on CBS, instead of airing it live as usual.[127] As a result of the changes which were made, the telecast was viewed by just 6 million viewers, the lowest ratings ever in the shows history.[128] This was down from 11.3 million viewers the previous year.[128][129][130]
On January 7, it was announced that the Golden Globes ceremony would not be telecast live. The ceremony was faced with a threat by actors to boycott the ceremony rather than cross picket lines and by striking writers threatening to picket the event. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which hosts the Golden Globes, and NBC were forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. After NBC canceled its exclusive newscast of HFPA announcing the winners, HFPA took complete control of the awards announcement and opened its press conference to all media. WGA assured HFPA that it would not picket the event, citing HFPA's honesty and its honorable and respectful treatment of the guild as reasons.[131] The NBC telecast plummeted in the ratings from 16.0 for the full ceremony in 2007 to 4.7 for the press conference in 2008, fourth (and last) among major networks that night.[132]
The WGA issued two more waivers for awards telecast. One was issued towards the NAACP on January 15 for the NAACP Image Awards a month later[133], and one on January 29 to the NARAS for the 50th Grammy Awards held on February 10[134]
The strike ended twelve days before the Academy Awards were held on February 24. Many blamed the strike for the show's low television ratings, since the writers had less time to prepare. The strike also hindered promotion at ABC, the broadcaster in the United States.[135]
Television viewership
A white paper released by Nielsen Media Research on April 2, 2008 showed that most television viewers spent more time around alternative forms of entertainment outside of broadcast television, including cable television and online video sites, during the course of the strike.[136] Compared with the same time period from 2006-2007, during the months of the strike (November 2007 through February 2008) the average primetime ratings for that time period declined by 6.8%.[137]
Response
Actors
They claim there’s no money in the Internet. That’s a shell game.
--Actor Robin Williams[138] |
The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) contracts with the AMPTP both contain a "no strike" clause, meaning that working members of the acting unions are not supposed to walk off their set in support of another union's strike. However, many actors expressed their support for the writers' strike, with some marching with writers and even refusing to cross the WGA's picket line.[139][121] Many actors participated in a series of short PSAs as part of the Speechless Without Writers campaign presented by United Hollywood, which was founded by a group of WGA members.[140]
List of actors picketing
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