TV on strike [electronic resource] : why Hollywood went to war over the internet / Cynthia Littleton.

ISBN:

9780815652007

Title:

Author:

Littleton, Cynthia.

Personal Author:

Littleton, Cynthia.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxiii, 296 pages).

Series:

Television and popular culture

Contents:

Fear of the unknown -- Path to the picket line -- Sowing the seeds -- Brinksmanship across the table -- United showrunners -- Angst in the executive suite -- Rallies, retrenchment, and late-night returns -- Cue the directors -- Deal or no deal? -- The finish line -- The bloodletting -- Epilogue.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Writers Guild of America Strike, Calif., 2007-2008.

Strikes and lockouts -- Television broadcasting -- United States -- History -- 21st century.

Television writers -- Salaries, etc. -- United States -- History -- 21st century.

Television programs -- Economic aspects -- United States.

Television programs -- Social aspects -- United States.

Digital media -- Influence.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2013

Publication Information:

Syracuse, New York :

Syracuse University Press,

2013.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
809.225 0925 23	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

TV on Strike examines the upheaval in the entertainment industry by telling the inside story of the hundred-day writers' strike that crippled Hollywood in late 2007 and early 2008. The television industry's uneasy transition to the digital age was the driving force behind the most significant labor dispute of the twenty-first century.

The strike put a spotlight on how the advent of new-media distribution platforms is reshaping the traditional business models that have governed the television industry for decades. The uncertainty that sent writers out into the streets of Los Angeles and New York with picket signs laid bare the depth of the divide between the media barons who rule the entertainment industry and the writers who are integral as the creators of movies and television shows.

With both sides afraid of losing millions in future profits, a critical communication breakdown spurred a fierce battle with repercussions that continue today. The saga of the Writers Guild of America strike is told through the eyes of the key players on both sides of the negotiating table and of the foot soldiers who surprised even themselves with the strength of their resolve to fight for their rights in the face of an ambiguous future. In the years since the strike ended, the rise of digital distribution platforms has changed the business landscape in ways that few could have predicted when Hollywood guilds were feverishly trying to hammer out a contract template for a new era.

Author Notes

Cynthia Littleton is deputy editor of news development at Variety and coauthor of Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and UPN.

Reviews (2)

Choice Review

The 2007-2008 labor conflict between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and major television networks had lasting consequences for the industry. Among other issues, new methods of content delivery created an environment of uncertainty affecting payment for "residuals," or secondary distribution. The major conglomerates, such as Time Warner and the Walt Disney Company, feared lost profit, smaller market shares, and the long-term impact of alternative delivery platforms. As part of a broad strategic plan, the studios proposed to change the shares of income from Internet and videodisc sales between companies and writers. When contract negotiations got underway in the summer of 2007, the parties understood that the market for television production had entered a new era of cable competition, digital recording technology, and reality shows. Littleton (deputy editor, Variety magazine) gives a detailed, lively account of the three-month strike, providing valuable context about the parties and their complex interests. Though money was the immediate cause of the dispute, it occurred as media ownership was becoming vertically integrated and significantly more powerful. The book offers a clear, factual, informative account of fundamental changes in a basic industry. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduate students and above; faculty and professionals; general readers. R. L. Hogler Colorado State University

Library Journal Review

The 2007 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike shone a spotlight not only on how new digital media has changed the entertainment business, but on how unions are still relevant as advocates for workers' rights. Littleton (deputy editor, Variety; coauthor, Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and UPN) details the union's grievances against the major Hollywood studios and media conglomerates regarding how writers would be compensated for working on new digital projects such as television show "webisodes" or the re-airing of programs via paid downloads or streaming videos over the Internet. She explains the intricate contractual disagreement between the WGA and the studios' representative organization, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Profiles of key players in the strike provide an emotional resonance and drama to the story of what otherwise would be a dry recounting of a labor dispute. -VERDICT This well-researched book is for followers of the entertainment industry and students of media studies or labor history.-Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.