The Value of Writing

Now going into it's 5th week, it's official that entertainment purchasing public does not give a shit about the writers' strike. Hell, it's hardly even being covered by the LA Times anymore.

I was giving this some thought. Social critics have lamented our addiction to TV since I was a kid, yet the American public has reacted with a collective yawn as fewer and fewer 'fresh' episodes are available on TV. Why is that?

1) This is the first opportunity in a while for TV to be affected by the market forces that swooped in during the last writers' strike. What happened then? The networks started buying 'reality' shows to fill in slots. This basically said to the writers, "We can manufacture as many laughs and as much drama with a single contrivance than you could with several. Get lost."

2) Downloading. Music customers told the industry, "Y'know, the stuff I like to listen to is only worth the cost of a blank CD and my monthly cable modem/DSL. Go stick the rest up your ass." The unintended consequence of the TV networks streaming their product is that for the first time allows consumers to put a price on an episode of TV. And when you start saying, "Hm, is it really worth $1.99 to download Desperate Housewives" it is not that far of a leap to say, "It's not worth it...I'll just grab it with bittorrent." So, the show's ratings go down and no revenue is generated.

3) Home entertainment is over priced. Radiohead put out their new CD online and asked people to pay what they thought it was worth. 62% (and these are their fans) said $0, and of the other 38%, the average was about $6. Downloading takes time, is a bit of a hassle and may not be as high of quality as the CD you would buy in the store. Yet people do it. Why? Because a CD (or DVD) on Amazon costs more than people think the content is worth.

4) TV is mostly crap. Let's say EVERYTHING on TV was pay-per-view. $.50 for an epidode of Teletubbies, $1.00 for SpongeBob, $2.00 for CSI-Peoria, $5 per football game, etc. How many shows do you think would make enough money to justify their (current) production costs? I'd say 15, tops. This would lead to a serious market adjustment of the salaries of EVERYONE involved in the TV industry and we'd find out the true market value of TV writers (and actors and directors). My guess is that it is far lower than they imagine it to be. The economics are propped up by consumer product companies being convinced (or convincing themselves) that they have to buy millions of dollars of advertising to be competitive. If Anheuser-Busch, GM and Coca-Cola woke up tomorrow and said, "Every goddamn person in America knows about our product, and spending another dime won't get us any more market share, so we're gonna stop advertising on TV" the suicide rates among TV execs in NYC and Hollywood would skyrocket. And the quality of what's on wouldn't change an iota.

Why the writers and producers can't work out a percentage agreement for 'new media' residuals is beyond me. But when this is all said and done, I think it's going to be a while before the ratings for most shows go back up. Both sides have completely over estimated the value of their product in this country.