According to my sources, the WGA Strike is coming to a close. The Writers Guild of America took to the picket lines in November and television as we knew it came to a grinding stop. The cause of the strike was as usual about money, which is probably the reason for every strike that has occurred.

The writers demands were as follows:

• Increase the return on DVD sales from 0.3% to 0.6%
• Receive 2.5% of the gross revenue from “new media” (e.g. Internet downloads, streaming, etc)
• Bring Reality and Animation shows into the WGA fold

All of these demands are pretty reasonable. The 0.3% for DVD sales was decided back when Beta and VHS tapes were still popular. With the advent of DVD technology, movie and television sales have been flying off the shelves. And it is only right that the Writers receive a percentage of the online sales as well. “New media” is the same as “old media”, they are both media and the writers had a hand in its creation. Reality and Animation show ownership is a little bit iffy. I’m not sure if credible writers would want to put their handcock on a reality show. Those type of shows have really dumbed down tv. Animation shows are mostly written by another guild, The Animation Guild, so it’s not very cool to just take over someone else’s territory.

The strike has affected more than just the participants. The production crews lost their jobs when there were no shows to produce. A number of up-and-coming shows were cancelled and fans of television were reduced to watching reality shows and infocomercials. 🙁

I’ve been watching CNN lately and after the fifth day, I noticed they repeat the same program over and over again. But, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, there was nothing else to watch!

Bring back Bones!
My (credible) Sources:

Strike almost over?
Deal Has Been Reached to End Writer’s Strike: Eisner
W.G.A Strike (Almost) Over?