Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

The Writers Guild of America strike is just about two months old. Negotiations have collapsed. And it’s not looking like they will resume anytime soon.

Such a strike has negatively affected all day parts of the television schedule – dramas, sitcoms, and late-night talk shows. New shows can’t be written if their writers are on strike. Letterman has been in reruns for weeks. When this season’s episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty written prior to the strike dry up, what will the networks run in their place? What will viewers choose to watch, if anything?

The networks have a couple of non-union alternatives for producing new programming, and one of them could create new openings for our clients to tell their stories. The networks can lean on their news producing staffs to ramp up production of primetime news magazines. It’s also cheaper for the networks to produce programs like Primetime, 20/20, Dateline and 48 Hours than the expensive, start-studded dramas and comedies ABC’s Nightline, a program that has suffered in the ratings since Ted Koppel’s departure two years ago, could also fair better during the picketing, especially if Jay Leno can’t book guests.

Sidebar - Late night talk shows are going to look a little different this week when their hosts return with new shows. CBS’s David Letterman and Craig Ferguson will be going on the air with writers and WGA-approved programs.  That means that Letterman and Ferguson won’t have any problems promoting weeks of star-studded shows. Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, on the other hand, might have more trouble. They will go on the air this month without writing staffs, relying on bookings to attract viewers rather than catchy monologues and jokes. Most A-list Hollywood stars, however, aren’t willing to cross the picket line.

It’s up to the ever-stressed news magazines to pick up the slack that won’t be filled with expensive entertainment and reality shows – another cheap, non-union option. News magazines can shrink and grow on a dime. Freelance producers will be hired to fill multi-night schedules the regular staff can’t manage without more warm bodies. Good news for freelancers as well as media relations professionals looking for national pitching opportunities. Programs like Dateline, on hiatus for months, and Primetime, removed from the fall season schedule, are going to need stories to tell as execs bring them back with high expectations. Producers and bookers will be scouring the Web for local news, blogs and other sites that provide the fodder for their 12-15 minute pieces. The doors may be open a little wider for our clients now that there will be more pressure on these shows to deliver more stories.

So, who’s calling Barbara?

While our friends and family members gripe at the possibility of not having their weekly fix of shiny new programming, the writers strike may have greater implications on our line of work. Although still in the beginning stages of the strike, it is important that we monitor the livelihood of North Carolinian's favorite programming. Currently it appears that the only casualty of the strike is late night programming, which fortunately for our clients, is not currently something we typically buy. The continuation of the strike, however, could have negative repercussions in the number of viewers who regularly tune in to see their favorite prime time scripted dramas.

Only time will tell what happens with this strike. Possibly we will see a further increase in cable ratings as viewers attempt to fill the void with different programming, or maybe more people will turn to online sources to view shows. Regardless of how this story plays out, the important thing to remember is there are always other ways to gain viewers even with declining TV ratings. Possibly we will find lower rates offered in 1Q 2008 for big-ticket items like Desperate Housewives. Either way it is more important than ever that we continue to explore other opportunities in media placement as we watch the changing face of broadcast television.

And then there is always American Idol...