TV Strike Thought

"How quickly can network TV get back on track after the writers strike? Estimates from analysts and industry insiders suggest it will take anywhere from four to eight weeks to get scripted dramas and comedies back on the air, meaning that if the strike were resolved by mid-February, the broadcast networks still wouldn't be back to full strength until mid-March or mid-April at the earliest.

That would give them time to have stunning May sweeps, no doubt, but probably would mean that a full season of TV's best (about 22 episodes of each series) is not in the cards."

Ratings Erosion

"Network TV already was facing ratings erosion. As Mr. Krehbiel demonstrates, more viewers have switched at least some of their attention to the web and other pursuits. What's more, an increasing number have armed themselves with ad-zapping DVRs -- so even if they watch, there's no guarantee some of them will see the ads. Now the strike threatens to accelerate the trend by removing the very things that draw millions of potential consumers to the tube night after night: glitzy special events and water-cooler shows.

The networks face their strongest test in the weeks ahead -- proving their writer-less offerings can still draw people. "What I'm going to be looking for is how does this stuff do through the end of the first quarter? How are these guys doing year to year? Does 'Dance Wars' over time have as much power as 'Dancing With the Stars'? Does 'Idol' keep going in the same direction?" asked PHD's Mr. Swift. The answers could bolster advertiser confidence or prove broadcast is no longer the biggest piece of the media pie."

Jericho Junction: Loomer

"The Loomer Report" by Terocious.

"As I write, the Jeritopia chat with Mike Loomer is one hour and twenty one minutes old with no signs of slowing. Schumi spoke for everyone, I believe, when she said that we would all like to stay and talk to Loomer forever. What a great guy and yet another shining example of how the people involved with Jericho are worthy of every ounce of energy we have put forth in trying to save this show."



"A madhouse!
The Writers Guild of America strike is changing how the entire entertainment industry works. That's not an exaggeration meant to generate controversy or draw attention to myself. If I want to do that, I'll drop my pants on-camera during a live broadcast of Nancy Grace and claim that I've abducted Dakota Fanning -- again."

Daytime Soaps Affected By Strike

"When talks broke down earlier this month between the studios and striking writers, it began to hit home that scribes could be jobless for many months to come. One of those writers finally made the agonizing decision to stop picketing and go back to work.

The writer's show, a daytime soap, had run out of scripts. To this writer, the moral choice lay in keeping the show on the air.

Daytime serials are not in a healthy situation," said the writer, who asked for anonymity, fearing fallout from both sides in the complex and highly charged standoff. "If we can keep shows on the air, I perceive it as something that needs to be done for the future generation of writers."

Although most daytime writers have joined their colleagues on the picket lines, others -- fearing for their jobs or the survival of the soap genre altogether -- have quietly gone back to work. Even those who are still picketing say soap writers' issues are unique."

Jericho: Trading Cards

"Jericho Season 1 from Inkworks.....This 72 card card set captures the exciting first season of Jericho. Enjoy cards detailing the first season stories lines, characters, and behind the scenes action. Add in great inserts, autographs, pieceworks and autographed pieceworks with a great storyline and you get a great set of cards!!!"



"The WGA strike will cost the regional economy $220 million in damage each month it continues, a regional economic group projected Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. forecast was 10% higher than the group's previous projection of just a month ago (HR 11/21). To date, the seven-week strike has cost the regional economy $342.7 million in lost wages and ripple effects on such businesses as restaurants, hotels and personal-service firms, the LAEDC said."

Golden Globes And Mistletoe

"Well, they’ve gone and decided to do it: the WGA will picket the Golden Globes.

A spokesman for the Guild confirmed on Tuesday, just a day after it was announced that a waiver for Golden Globes writers would not be forthcoming, that the group will indeed picket the awards ceremony on January 13. This is assuming the strike is still going on by then – but does anyone really think it won’t be at this point? The upshot of this is that many celebrities due to be honored at the ceremony most likely will be no-shows since they won’t want to cross the picket line. There’s talk that security could be arranged the same way as it is for the Oscars, which requires a special pass to get anywhere near the theater, so that the picketers are relegated a few blocks away from the theater. It’ll still be a media spectacle, nevertheless."




"While it may be nice to run into your sweetie under the mistletoe, this traditional holiday plant can be potentially toxic to our animal companions.

Found throughout the United States, American mistletoe is actually a parasitic plant that lives off a variety of different tree species. If ingested in large enough quantities, mistletoe can potentially produce gastrointestinal irritation, excessive thirst and urination, a drop in blood pressure and heart rate, seizures, coma and even death in pets."

TV: The Strike

Thanks to RubberPoultry for the great graphic.



"As the writers strike hits the six-week mark on Monday, the ramifications for the TV biz are growing by the hour.

Starting next week, the force majeure ax may begin to fall on various talent deals at the major studios. Industry insiders say some of the nonwriting producer deals and nonwriting "pod" deals that have proliferated during the past decade could be vulnerable, particularly for those with a mixed track record of delivering successes to their studio partners.

(Many contracts use the six-week mark for allowing termination of a deal under provisions of force majeure, or a disruptive event that prevents both sides adhering to the terms of the contract, but the length of time can vary significantly depending on the deal.)

Decisions on who gets cut will be made on a case-by-case basis, and they are unlikely to come in one big wave. Each of the six majors has different needs and strike contingency plans. Some may decide to trigger the option that allows studios to extend deals by the number of months the strike lasted. "There will be terminations," a studio chief said. "We just don't know when."

Jericho: Games

"TV networks launch multimedia games to keep viewers buzzing
CBS used a mixed-media puzzle involving online clues and outdoor billboards to stimulate interest in its cerebral detective show “Numb3rs.” The puzzle is just one example of how online and offline marketing combinations are being used in a bid to promote TV shows, capture new audiences and hold current viewers’ interest. Shows like ABC’s “Lost” and “Jericho” on CBS have used similar strategies."



"If the strike lasts another four to six weeks, it could spell the end for 2008 pilot production. The most-circulated scenario in that case involves the networks renewing all their existing series for next fall, producing their pilots in the summer and launching their new crop of shows in midseason 2009."

"CBS will hope to bring some magic to the broadcast network with the decidedly un-family-friendly serial-killer thriller "Dexter" and perhaps other series from sister cable network Showtime.

"It probably speaks to how much they need scripted product," Brill said. "They probably have the least backup of any network. There are seven episodes of 'Jericho.' Maybe they are wishing they had gotten more."

Carol Barbee: Writer's Strike

"If the writers strike continues until January, it will endanger the $9 billion TV upfront market.

Marketers and agencies have tried for years to change the way TV time is bought and sold, arguing that committing such a large portion of their budgets ahead of the start of the fall season no longer makes sense. And it's looking increasingly like the Writers Guild of America strike could be the catalyst for retooling the annual May upfront process.

Carol Barbee, executive producer of cult favorite "Jericho" on CBS, said while her show would only benefit (a full season is already in the can), the damage could wreak havoc beyond the upfront. "If this goes past January, [the networks] have lost the entire development season, which means that they've lost all the new shows and the midseason replacements."

"The strike could accelerate recognition that consumers don't "revolve around prime time and the networks' new seasons anymore," said Rino Scanzoni, chief investment officer for WPP Group's Group M media-buying consortium. With people using DVRs and watching programming online, a better system of buying and selling needs to be put in place. If the strike were to help people see that, he said, "that might actually be a silver lining."

Striking Out

"If the writers strike persists through the end of the month, it could suck $200 million from the entertainment industry's contribution to the Los Angeles economy, one expert predicts.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., said that more informed data will come with the November release of state employment figures, due December 21, but using the 1988 WGA strike as a guide, fallout is expected to be significant. Beyond that, a full economic recovery could take months."



"The Center for Media Research notes that the latest figures from Nielson Online support their recent research brief about the importance of the trust placed in word of mouth marketing.

The Nielsen figures for the top U.S. social networking sites and blogs in October show that:

Facebook more than doubled their traffic in the last year

MySpace had a 19 percent growth over October 2006

Althought their numbers are much smaller, LinkedIn was the big winner in terms of growth - 189 percent!

Kids are getting active in the social media space too - Club Penguin visitors grew by 157 percent

Buzznet, a new kind of social site that gives members the tools to create multi media around music and pop culture is also attracting a growing audience. They’re up 117 percent in the last year."

WGA: Taking A Hit

"CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched television network, probably would take the biggest hit in a prolonged strike by TV and movie writers.

CBS gets two-thirds of its sales and profit from television. The New York-based company relies more on scripted shows such as ``CSI'' than competitors and is vulnerable to advertising losses, said Lehman Bros. analyst Anthony DiClemente."



"A prolonged writers' strike could send regular TV viewers to other media -- particularly print -- and might prompt marketers to reallocate their ad spending, according to a poll conducted by WPP Group's MindShare.

One out of four adults surveyed said the strike will affect or change their viewing habits. That finding was highest among 35- to 44-year-olds and lowest among those 65 or older."



"NBC's late-night schedule may be the first real victim of the ongoing writers' strike, with viewership among advertisers' most-coveted audiences -- viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 -- down in the double-digits for both "The Tonight Show" and "Saturday Night Live," according to media buyers."

Jericho Comes To South Africa

CBS: Clean Up Your Mess at CBS.com



South Africa Watches Jericho

"Jericho starts on SABC3 on Wednesday at 8.31pm.

One lucky Jericho viewer could stand in line to win an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles. Competition details to follow in the Tonight throughout the weeks to come."




"The strike casualties among the show's crew include camera operators, assistants, grips, electricians, hair and makeup artists and many more. And then there are the extras.

"We use a lot of extras each week, and these people barely make it," Thorpe said. "What are they going to do? It's so unbelievably painful to think about the size of this. Thousands and thousands of us have lost our jobs this week. The lady I buy my donuts from -- she has two kids in college. It a huge loss of income."



"The WGA East is not happy with Ellen DeGeneres. The funny lady whose recent dog-drama sparked headlines last month is in hot water with the East coast WGA after they found out she’s planning to go ahead with the two New York tapings of her talk show, which are scheduled for later this month."

TV: Losing Eyeballs

"At a time when TV is shedding viewers to the Web, the last thing the industry needs is to do something that turns more eyeballs away. Yet that’s precisely what a Hollywood writers’ strike is poised to do.

With the writers’ contract with the studios expiring on Oct. 31 and negotiations yielding little more than acrimony, Tinseltown is in a state of high anxiety. The prevailing sentiment had been that the Writers Guild of America would wait to stage a strike until next summer, when the contracts of the actors and directors guild run out, but a November walkout is looking increasingly likely. And though there's rarely an ideal time for a work stoppage, a fall strike would likely exact irreparable damage on network television, which is having trouble maintaining its relevance even with a full stable of writers at work."



If you're a fan of Hawkins see here.

Thanks kystorms.



"We MUST tell Sci-Fi THANK YOU: The Sci-Fi Channel has FINALLY scheduled reruns/repeats of the Dresden Files!! As was pointed out by a fellow fan/campaigner, they "could be testing the waters for whether or not a lot of people are wanting to watch this show."

Unless we have Nielsen boxes (I don't, I don't know about you folks), the only way the Execs at Sci-Fi/NBC will know we're watching is if we TELL them, and let's not forget - the Execs are interested in QUANTITY! We start NOW:"

Helping Dresden Helps Jericho too. More info here.