A new deal.
Recently I’ve been covering the
writers strike a lot. Well, here’s some more.
I was really shocked to hear a bout how
hard and fast the strike started to affect shows. Also, how it
wasn’t daytime TV to suffer first but Heroes. That’s double bad
because it was an experimental structure choice and now it’s being
punished. It may never recover and the show is going to be a whole
lot closer to cancellation. In times of crisis business will go for
guaranteed money and that means back to basics, and drop anything
that pushes in new directions.
But this isn’t a lament on Heroes.
This is an answer to the crisis. No one has seen this coming even
though it has just happened in a close market not even a month ago.
This is the same exact thing that the
music industry went to. Musicians realized that the only money you
need to put out an album is production cost. That has always been
manageable. It’s the distribution that necessitates labels. Now
that you don’t have to pay for CD pressing and printing or shipping
and advertising can be word of mouth with slower build up it’s not
a crazy idea to stay indie by choice.
Writers: LISTEN UP! You’re
striking against the networks because you need them to make and then
distribute the shows. But you don’t need them anymore. All you
need is to find funding. Here’s the kicker. You don’t need
networks for distribution anymore. There’re channels upon channels
that don’t even have a cable station. They’re running on-demand
with deals directly with cable companies. And cable companies will
become the new networks. They have the money to produce your shows.
You need studios but only in the most literal sense, and not with the
baggage that comes with a studio deal.
Here’s what I propose. Looking at
the shifting and (succeeding?) path of the music industry, take suit!
Sign exclusives with producers and not studio CEOs. Get
distribution deals with Verizon and Comcast, not NBC and CBS. It’s
going to be a rocky change-over but at this moment there is no one
more prepared for it than the writers. And no one less prepared than
the networks! I’m not saying go through with the deals to the
cable companies. But if just a few of you switch over and find life
for your shows that way the networks will cave. They will see that
it’s soon to be networks vs. cable companies. That’s the new
competitive market and the networks should be paying people to tell
them this is coming. Instead it’s me and the TV writers shoving
the information in the network’s faces for free.
Networks: LISTEN UP! Get your
acts together. You used to not pay writers for their work when shows
went to cable syndication. Now you do. Currently you shaft them
when their work goes to DVD and internet, but that’s the same
thing! It’s the new syndication and you guys make a large portion
of your profits from that. You’re making 2 whole bundles of
mistakes that we’ve already seen.
The syndication rip-off act that
you’ve since corrected.
The same pride before the fall
that the record companies were so damn smug about before they
realized that their power isn’t in distribution anymore.
So wake up and sign the new deals. Let
the writers get money for their writing. Maybe if you’re nice
enough to acknowledge the “new syndication” they’ll stick with
you when the revolution over the “new network” (cable companies
vs. you guys) comes.
So how’s about it? Let me watch my
shows!
