Friday, February 8, 2008

End to the Writer's Strike?

Rumour has it that an end to the ongoing Writer's Strike is near as a new deal has been placed on the table. Even so, has this strike changed the face of TV and video consumption as we know it? It's been going on for more than 3 months now, and schedules have gone completely awry, while deals have obviously been inked in an effort to fill airtime with content people actually want to watch.

Already, as I've mentioned in previous blog posts, people have been moving away from the traditional TV medium. Many popular shows have been pretty much stagnant while actors and producers wait for a resolution, leaving customers to watch re-runs, reality TV, and movies. They might also be filling at-home downtime that was typically spent watching TV with activities like video games, Internet surfing, or even quality family time (what a concept!)

During this time, a strong, new competitor has been creeping up every so quietly. It's no secret that there's tons of video, and even "TV-like" content to be consumed online. As we'll discuss in the upcoming February 2008 issue of Marketnews Magazine, plenty of new "online TV" formats are coming to fruition. Will writers decide to go an online-exclusive route and leave TV in the dust?

Even when a resolution has been made (hopefully it's before the highly anticipated Oscars), things may have changed too dramatically to ever return to how they were. The next year will be very telling in terms of what we can expect for the future of TV programming.

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