My favorite TV shows – Smallville, The Daily Show, Heroes and My Name Is Earl have been hit, like every other piece of television programming by the WGA strike that is still dragging along. One of the main issues stumbling blocks in this process is the way WGA members are compensated for content that is termed as ‘new media’ – a phrase many of us know well.
Yet again, it seems that media owners (in the traditional sense of the word) seem intent on trying to cling to their ‘empire’ while all else falls around them. Particularly ironic is that they now claim that it’s impossible to put a price on digital media, a short time after Viacom sued YouTube for a cool $1 billion for ‘unauthorized use of content’. Seems like they’ve already put a price on it, but then again what do I know?
TV monoliths such as ABC and CBS have oh so cleverly responded to the inevitable sagging ratings by giving advertisers more TV time – which if less people are watching..well you know how much sense that makes.
It seems that media owners are intent on shooting themselves in the proverbial appendage time and time again. A little foresight guys, that’s all we want.
