Writer's Strike Update
Sources say that our chances for new TV episodes this season are not looking good.
According to an article over at SyFyPortal, "...both the Writers Guild of America [WGA] and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers [AMPTP] have walked away from the bargaining table after the latest round of negotiations, and neither side seems to be any closer than they were at the start of the strike more than a month ago."
The sides are very far apart. It is hard to determine which side to believe! On one hand, the WGA chairman references a proposal that was made to the writers to have a fixed $250 fee for unlimited streaming for one year, AFTER a six-week period of free use. Six weeks of "Lost" streamed with no compensation? Sounds like a bad deal for the writers.
On the other hand, the AMPTP said that its offer would increase the average writer's salary to over $230,000 a year. Wowza - writers will make almost a quarter of a million a year? Who needs to be an athlete anymore? Someone needs to tell me the details of that deal - I can't see how you get $200K from $250 fixed fees.
So, from these comments, I can see that the rhetoric is flying both directions. I was really hoping to see more "Moonlight" and "Supernatural" this year. But, now, I have just about lost hope. There is some small consolation that we will get to see a few episodes of "Jericho" and "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (which is scheduled to debut on January 13th!). Other than those shows, we may have a very dry, reality TV-filled winter this year.