Nets' Loss, Web's Gain

NETS' LOSS, WEB'S GAIN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
Here's a lovely irony of the Hollywood writers' strike: In the name of winning a bigger share of revenue from the sale of TV shows over the Internet, TV writers could wind up driving viewers to the Web in search of original online video. After a mere three days, the strike against producers is already having an impact in living rooms and dens. With no writers to supply topical jokes, late-night talk shows were the first to go into reruns. Comedy Central says the audience for repeats of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" is down a predictable 30 percent from the ratings for original episodes. TV's most popular programs -- prime-time, scripted dramas and sitcoms such as "Desperate Housewives," "House" and "Two and a Half Men" -- remain safe for the near future, thanks to stockpiled scripts and episodes in the production pipeline. But if the strike extends into January and beyond, viewers might end up looking elsewhere for original entertainment, potentially giving Internet video producers the biggest traffic boost in their relatively short history.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110702561.html
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* Who needs writers?
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Pat Morrison]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-morrison8nov08,1,3303695.column?coll=la-news-comment
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* New fall series were struggling before the strike
How much worse could the networks do without writers than they're doing with them? Much speculation has centered on how networks will fare once their supply of scripted shows runs dry in a few weeks. But broadcasters are already feeling the effects of massive viewer indifference to the new fall series.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-channel8nov08,1,3347360.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
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