Strike News Before the News Goes On Strike

More Writer’s Strike News and Notions:

In the “Really? You Picked This Week for This?” category:

NBC.com chose now to launch their NBC Direct program – offering free, ad-supported downloads of many of their television shows.

Exactly the type of new media that the writers are striking about.

The networks are claiming that ad-supported, computer watched material is “promotional” in nature – meant to drive viewers to the television show. And therefore they are not required to pay any of the people that work on those episodes from the money they make on selling advertising.

Hey, I never claimed that the networks were logical…

In the “But How Will We Know How The Strike Is Going?” category:

Unless you stay up past 11, your television viewing probably hasn’t been impacted yet by the strike. That may change for those that stay up past 6 – writers of news shows may go on strike soon as well.

News writers are covered under a different agreement than the one being argued about now. But the news writers apparently have been operating without a contract since 2005.

Of course, fewer programs trying to create entertaining news 24/7 might be better for us all.

In the “You’re Blaming Who?” category:

As part of a WGA rally on Friday, one tv showrunner blasted his network as “bullies” because they announced that they will be laying off the writer’s assistants.

The people whose only job is to assist the writers.

The writers who, by their own choice, aren’t working.

Hey, some of the networks are bullies – I won’t even attempt to argue that.

But not providing a never-ending paycheck for an assistant to a guy that won’t come to work – that doesn’t sound like bullying to me. Sounds more like the common sense outcome the showrunner knew would happen when he chose to stop working.

Don’t want to surprise anybody, but when one strikes in an attempt to shut down an industry, a lot of out of people will be out of work. That’s kind of the point.

Just my thoughts,

Sean