Could advertisers help stop the strike ?
By fred | November 30, 2007
Before writers went on strike, studios tried to have as many scripts written and episodes completed as they could, in prevision of such an event. And now that the strike is here, some are already kicking some reruns trying to keep new content available as long as they can. Of course this isn’t always possible, and some shows are already out “for good”, The Office comes to mind obviously.
Studios have tried to say they were not so worried, that they had a lot of reality crap in stock, and that they were ready for a long strike. Some exec even said that a strike could have some good, before it would allow them not to pay for all the pilots they usually invest in. But reality might be different.
Not so long ago rumors of hope were out, some started to dream that before Christmas it would all be over. Yesterday, word was that a new offer was to be made to writers and that it did contain improvements writers were looking for, such as payment over Internet diffusion.
Turns out that that the new offer was more like a bad joke. For example, they offered the writers a single-payment of less than $250 yearly for the internet streaming of old episodes. But wait, there’s more ! Well, I mean less : they did not intend to pay anything for content written specifically for the internet, continuing to consider such content as promotion. So writers would receive nothing out of the ad revenue from such content, even if they were to win Emmy for them.
It appears that the strike might not end so soon after all… but a new threat is now coming to pressure producers. And while writers have been - obviously - incredibly great, funny and creative doing videos about the strike, this one is coming from something that talks to producers much more : money.
Advertisers are not so confident that reality TV is as interesting or worth as much an the work of writers can be, and while they usually get extra spots as compensation in such events, they are now considering a more radical request : they would ask for their money back.
Such an extreme move would not be considered until the first quarter of next year, in the eventuality that things wouldn’t have been worked out by then, obviously.
While we can all enjoy the videos coming out of the striking writers, they might not have a (major) impact on actual negotiations. The idea of such a big loss of money, on the other hand, could very well help the AMPTP rethink their positions and try to come up with an actual offer for writers. Because many advertisers are fearing that a lasting strike could have a real bad impact of the world of television, and other media are more than ready to get all the money from TV to other venues.
At least let’s hope so !
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For information, here’s the email from the WGA’s :
To My Fellow Members,
After four days of bargaining with the AMPTP, I am writing to let you know that, though we are still at the table, the press blackout has been lifted.Our inability to communicate with our members has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with rumors, both well intentioned and deceptive.
Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a “done deal.” In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.
Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.From streaming television episodes, the companies proposed a residual structure of a single fixed payment of less than $250 for a year’s reuse of an hour-long program (compared to over $20,000 payable for a network rerun). For theatrical product they are offering no residuals whatsoever for streaming.
For made-for-Internet material, they offered minimums that would allow a studio to produce up to a 15 minute episode of network-derived web content for a script fee of $1300. They continued to refuse to grant jurisdiction over original content for the Internet.
In their new proposal, they made absolutely no move on the download formula (which they propose to pay at the DVD rate), and continue to assert that they can deem any reuse “promotional,” and pay no residual (even if they replay the entire film or TV episode and even if they make money).
The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us. We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.
In the meantime, I felt it was essential to update you accurately on where negotiations stood. On Wednesday we presented a comprehensive economic justification for our proposals. Our entire package would cost this industry $151 million over three years. That’s a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%. We are falling behind.
For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we’ve stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.
The AMPTP’s intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public. We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together.
Best,
Patric M. Verrone
President, WGAWMichael Winship
President, WGAE
