It’s official. The Writers Guild of America has called for a work stoppage for the first time since 2007. Talks broke down between the WGA East, WGA West and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers late Monday night at 8 PM.
Last month, Guild members voted 98% in favor of going on strike if no new deal is reached with studios over the lack of jobs, smaller writers’ rooms and the loss of some sources of income due to an industry shift toward streaming services.
Now writers will picket in front of studios and streamers on both the East and West coasts. In Los Angeles, picket lines will be seen outside of Disney, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, NBC Universal, Sony Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Striking writers are expected to gather beginning at 1 PM PST.
In New York, picket lines will form in front of Peacock, beginning at 11:00 AM EST. It’s not clear what time picket lines will form in Atlanta and Chicago. In Chicago, Chicago Fire is still in production as is The Chi.
The strike comes as many of the streaming companies that produced shows employing WGA writers have seen stock prices drop, prompting the cancellation of shows, cost-cutting and layoffs.
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How Will Viewers Be Affected?
A work stoppage will have an immediate impact on late-night shows. These include The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Bill Mahr and SNL. WGA writers work under a tight and stressful schedule to stay up to date with the current news.
New installments will not be available on traditional broadcast networks, nor on streaming services such as Hulu and Peacock that make the shows available the following day. Weekly shows hows like Mahr and SNL could see their seasons end early.
Fans of daytime soap operas could feel the brunt of a strike next.
Most primetime dramas and comedies have wrapped production for the 2022-2023 season. So viewers won’t feel the impact of a strike yet. However, if the strike lasts longer than a few weeks, the Fall TV season could be delayed as writers’ rooms usually staff and reopen in May and June.
More Reality TV
The 2007-2008 labor stop was the catalyst for a boost in Reality TV. Unscripted shows such as Big Brother and The Celebrity Apprentice helped to fill the void of scripted shows. The same could happen again. And we all know what Celebrity Apprentice led to.
How Will Streamers Deal?
Don’t feel bad for the streamers. The companies have been preparing for months for a strike. “We really don’t want this to happen. But we have to make plans for the worst,” Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said last month. “We have a pretty robust slate of releases to take us into a long time but just be just be clear, we’re at the table and we’re going to try to get to an equitable solution so there isn’t a strike.”
A major difference between this time and 2008 is the explosion of streamers. Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, Paramount+ Disney+, Peacock along with smaller streamers such as MGM, AMC+ offer a slew of original programming and films.
HBO Max has promised more new content when the service relaunches as Max on May 23.
“We are ready to go guns blazing in terms of our product and our platforms around the world,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said at a recent event.
Movies
Most summer films are prepped and ready to go. Most audiences will not feel the brunt of a strike unless it becomes extended. We would not expect to see the Fall films disrupted either.
