Another strong indication that the WGA strike is going to drag on and on and that the Golden Globe and the Oscar award telecasts are more or more likely to be unscripted and shorn of strike-honoring movie stars has come from Deadline Hollywood Daily‘s Nikki Finke in a 12.24 posting:
“The CEOs are deeply entrenched in their desire to punish the WGA for daring to defy them by striking and to bully the writers into submission on every issue, and [think] that the writers are sadly misguided to believe they have any leverage left.
“I’m told the CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now. The studios and networks also are intent on changing the way they do TV development so they can stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars in order to see just a few new shows succeed.
“As for advertising, the CEOs seem determined to do away with the upfront business and instead make their money from the scatter market. I’m sorry to break this disappointing development right before Christmas, but I pledged to stay objective in my reporting and I can’t ignore this major news development. The truth often hurts. But don’t blame the messenger. And, no, this info wasn’t dumped in my lap, either. (That only happens over at Variety or the Los Angeles Times…).”