Writers versus Wrongers

I'm trying to understand how the strike by the Writers Guild of America affects me. I don't watch that many first-run network shows, and mostly watch sports and old reruns on TV. I could live without original shows for a long time without a whole lot of hardship.

Television writers going on strike are a lot like professional sports leagues going on strike. Sports and entertainment aren't really essential commodities. If people can't watch NHL hockey games or new episodes of "The Office", they will find other things to do with their time, and over the long haul, both the management and the workers end up losing, no matter who "wins" the settlement.

This is probably a short-sighted view, because there are bigger issues involved in the conflict between television writers and network management. The writers want a larger cut of DVD rentals and "new media" (i.e. internet) sales, which are becoming a more lucrative revenue streams for TV networks than first time, over the air, programming. This WGA video puts their fight in perspective.



So itt's not just first run episodes of "The Office" that you'll be missing. It's reruns of "The Office" and DVDs of "The Office" and iTunes downloads of "The Office" (NBC pulled their shows off iTunes a few months ago -- I'm speaking in the abstract).

By saying "this doesn't affect me, because I don't watch much television", I'm missing the most important part of the WGA argument. Networks are making lots of residual money from programs without sharing it with the writers who created the programming. Corporations invest their profits in the war machine while keeping everyone else blind. It's like The People versus The Man.

A few days ago, Sue said that without writers, "all we are left with is a turned-off TV". At least a TV that only shows reruns, reality shows, news, sports, and other programming that doesn't use guild talent. It's probably no coincidence that the writers chose November to start their strike. It's not only sweeps month, but the worst sports month of the year. Nights and nights of meaningless regular season NBA and NHL games will turn anyone into a supporter of the writer's guild.

Did you know the National Lacrosse League was also on strike? I didn't either.