What are you watching this summer?

[Brent]

EXCLUSIVE BULLETIN: The AMPTP presented what its sources just told me are "a number of New Media proposals" today at Talks Day #4. "This is the day it shook loose," a relieved insider just told me minutes ago. (This is also what I was reporting in my explusive post, Moguls Supposed To Present A Better Offer To Writers At Talks Today.) I've learned the AMPTP presented the WGA with "new terms involving streaming, made-for, Internet, and other issues". The WGA requested a suspension in the talks until Tuesday December 4th to study the new proposals. My sources say this came as something of a surprise to the moguls' side because their negotiating team was "ready to keep bargaining through the weekend". On the other hand, the AMPTP side waited until the end of today's session to present the terms (and then did so with much fanfare), and it really surprised the WGA negotiators who'd been increasingly doubful there'd be such a moment. But let's not be overly optimistic or naive, either. The big questions now are: Are these truly "new" proposals or just newly packaged "old" proposals? And are they good enough to get this strike settled by Christmas? Let's hope...

Producers Make New Offer to Writers

15 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood studios presented a sweetened contract offer to striking film and TV writers Thursday, and the writers' negotiators requested a four-day recess to consider it.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in a statement that talks will resume Tuesday.

The producers said the new offer included payments for work shown on the Internet, the key sticking points in the talks.

Producers said the new offer is worth $130 million in additional compensation but did not specify whether that figure was per year or over the three-year life of a proposed new contract.

[lurkey]

AMPTP statement: WGA to look over proposal; talks resume next Tuesday

Statement just sent out by the AMPTP:

STATEMENT REGARDING AMPTP WGA NEGOTIATIONS

LOS ANGELES, November 29, 2007 – "The AMPTP today unveiled a New Economic Partnership to the WGA, which includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. The entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year. In response, the WGA has asked for time to study the proposals. While we strongly preferred to continue discussions, we respect and understand the WGA’s desire to review the proposals. We look forward resuming talks on Tuesday, December 4.

We continue to believe that there is common ground to be found between the two sides, and that our proposal for a New Economic Partnership offers the best chance to find it.”

[Brent]

Without getting too excited(since we've gotten burned before), this sounds like the best news since it started. The fact that the WGA is taking a 4-day recess to research it must mean they are seriously considering it.

[lurkey]

Without getting too excited(since we've gotten burned before), this sounds like the best news since it started. The fact that the WGA is taking a 4-day recess to research it must mean they are seriously considering it.

Let's hope the leadership of the WGA doesn't make same misjudgments this time they made when agreeing to the last contract.

[Brent]

Without getting too excited(since we've gotten burned before), this sounds like the best news since it started. The fact that the WGA is taking a 4-day recess to research it must mean they are seriously considering it.

Let's hope the leadership of the WGA doesn't make same misjudgments this time they made when agreeing to the last contract.

Ugh! New WGA statement.

To Our Fellow Members,
After four days of bargaining with the AMPTP, we are writing to let you know that, though we are still at the table, the press blackout has been lifted.

Our inability to communicate with our members has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with rumors, both well intentioned and deceptive.

Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a "done deal." In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.

Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.

For streaming television episodes, the companies proposed a residual structure of a single fixed payment of less than $250 for a year's reuse of an hour-long program (compared to over $20,000 payable for a network rerun). For theatrical product they are offering no residuals whatsoever for streaming.

For made-for-Internet material, they offered minimums that would allow a studio to produce up to a 15 minute episode of network-derived web content for a script fee of $1,300. They continued to refuse to grant jurisdiction over original content for the Internet.

In their new proposal, they made absolutely no move on the download formula (which they propose to pay at the DVD rate), and continue to assert that they can deem any reuse "promotional," and pay no residual (even if they replay the entire film or TV episode and even if they make money).

The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us. We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.

In the meantime, we felt it was essential to update you accurately on where negotiations stand. On Wednesday we presented a comprehensive economic justification for our proposals. Our entire package would cost this industry $151 million over three years. That's a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%. We are falling behind.

For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we've stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.

The AMPTP's intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public. We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together.

My head hurts. Can't we just end this crap? Because the new episodes of scripted shows are about over.

[lurkey]

I am beginning to think the only way for strike to be resolved is for all the scripted new programming to end. At some point, someone will notice that no one is watching the networks anymore and will come up some face-saving deal on both sides can claim victory points on.

[Brent]

NBC Rewrites Midseason Schedule
'Biggest Loser,' '1 vs. 100' among unscripted additions

November 30, 2007

NBC is loading up on unscripted fare in January, giving over nearly a third of its prime-time schedule to shows that won't be affected by the writers' strike.

The network, which has been putting small pieces of its midseason schedule in place over the past couple of weeks, has now added several more shows to its 2008 slate. Every weeknight will have at least one hour of unscripted programming, and as things stand now, at least six of NBC's 22 prime-time hours will be filled with reality or game shows.

The unscripted onslaught will start New Year's Day with a new season of "The Biggest Loser," which will feature two-person teams in this cycle. Game show "1 vs. 100" will return Friday, Jan. 4, sliding into the spot currently occupied by "Deal or No Deal."

"American Gladiators," meanwhile, will move into "Chuck's" 8 p.m. Monday spot on Jan. 7, following a two-hour premiere the previous night. "Chuck" has been picked up for a full season, but its pre-strike supply of episodes will likely be exhausted by then.

NBC also has "Celebrity Apprentice" scheduled for a Jan. 3 premiere and will likely continue with "Deal or No Deal" on Wednesdays.

For all the reality programming, NBC will also have some original scripted shows to air at midseason, strike or no strike. The network announced earlier this week that "Lipstick Jungle" will debut Thursday, Feb. 7; it will also have new episodes of "Law & Order" and "Medium," both of which are currently scheduled for Sunday nights.

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-nbcmi ... 0602.story

[grentz7721]

The writers are taking a 4-day break to make their decision(sp?). Am I correct?

[lurkey]

The writers are taking a 4-day break to make their decision(sp?). Am I correct?

Actually, I don't know. I'm bit confused. I've read one article saying WGA had rejected the proposal. Then I hear that AMPTP only presented 1/2 of the proposal and will offer the second part before Tuesday.

THURSDAY PM UPDATE: I'm told WGA negotiators are still waiting for the other "half" of the AMPTP's Day #4 new proposals (the half that presumably contains the missing terms on ESTs, electronic sell-throughs?) which agent Bryan Lourd said should be in their hands by Tuesday if not before. Then the writers will make a counter-offer to producers on Tuesday. Here's the WGA West and East email to members critical of today's New Media offers by the AMPTP on streaming, content made for new media, and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels:

AMPTP & WGA will meet again on Tuesday.

"Tonight Show" lays off 120 staffers; corporate says: "If your services are needed, we will contact you"

Lenocap Today was the last day for most of the 120 staffers on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” who left with an early Christmas bonus check and no guarantee of a job when the strike ended.

“Do we have a job when the strike ends? That’s what everyone keeps asking,” said one former staffer. “They’ve guaranteed no one a job. They just keep saying, ‘The letter explains it.”

That letter is a notice from NBC’s human resources department that says, “If your services are needed, we will contact you.”

Sources said that while some higher-level executives received severance packages, other staffers received only Leno’s traditional bonus of $100 times the number of years the staffer has been on the show.

Writers were not included in the bonuses, but one writer emphasized that “he's not being Scrooge. He just wanted to get the staff taken care of first. I can't emphasize enough how generous Jay is.”

Others were less forgiving.

“We haven’t heard from him since the second or third day of the strike,” said a former Leno staffer. “He called on speakerphone while we were in our daily meeting and said, ‘Don’t look for other jobs, no one’s going to lose their house, we’ll get though this.’ Two weeks ago, we got the heads up that we had two more weeks (of pay) and that’s it. Everyone wondered, ‘Is Jay going to come through?’ And nothing happened. Conan makes less and he said, ‘I’m going to pay for my people.’ ”

Still on the payroll are the exec producers and a skeleton crew to answer phones. Leno was not on hand for the layoffs. Instead, Leno’s assistant notified the staff yesterday that they would get their Christmas bonus early. Leno's bonuses usually go out the week before Christmas.

"People are devastated today because we thought that he meant something more than an early Christmas bonus," another said. "A lot of people didn't look for other work, based on Jay's assurances."

-- Dave McNary and Dana Harris

[lurkey]

The WGA responds to its membership

The WGA sent the following email to its members on Friday afternoon:

Fellow members:

There are a lot of rumors and questions floating around, and we’d like to address them.

HAVE NEGOTIATIONS BROKEN DOWN? No.

DID OUR NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ASK FOR A BREAK? No.

THEN WHY THE FOUR-DAY BREAK? On Thursday, the studios and networks gave us some of their proposals, and said they needed more time to fashion the rest. Therefore talks were scheduled to resume on Tuesday.

THE COMPANIES SAY THEY ARE OFFERING US IS A $130 MILLION INCREASE. THE GUILD CALLS IT A ROLLBACK. WHY THE DISPARITY? The companies have still not explained how they arrived at their $130 million figure, but we can certainly explain how this is a rollback.

OKAY. SO HOW IS THEIR MADE-FOR-INTERNET PROPOSAL A ROLLBACK? Currently, the writer of a 30-minute prime-time TV show makes almost $21,000. The conglomerates are proposing that if that writer wrote the same show for the Internet, his or her initial compensation would be $2,600. That’s a rollback of 88%.

SO WHAT’S THEIR OFFER ON INTERNET RERUNS? Currently, the writer of a half-hour television episode makes about $11,600 when his or her episode is first re-run on TV. The companies are proposing that if that same episode is rerun instead on the Internet, they will pay the whopping total of $139 for unlimited reruns for one year--and nothing at all if it only streams for six weeks. About a third of all TV series are now being rerun only on the Internet. This amounts to an immediate 98.8% rollback. And it gets worse. If they decide to call a show “promotional,” they don’t have to pay us anything. It’s a “freepeat.”

WOW. AND WHAT ABOUT FEATURES? Are you sitting down? The companies want to be able to stream any and all feature films in their entirety, supported by advertising dollars, and pay the writers nothing. Zip.

Nada. Bupkus. A 100% rollback.

GIVEN ALL THIS, HOW IN THE WORLD DID THE COMPANIES COME UP WITH THE 130 MILLION DOLLAR FIGURE? Our question exactly. It’s definitely not a three-year number. As near as we can figure, their proposal might net us that total around the year 2107.

YOU HAVEN’T SAID ANYTHING NEW ABOUT DOWNLOADS. Neither have they. We are hoping that they will address this essential issue by Tuesday. Stay tuned.

"Tonight Show" Update: Leno to pay staffers after all

Leno This just in: Jay Leno will now indeed pay "Tonight Show" staffers their salaries through at least next week.

According to a source close to the show, Leno plans to extend the pay (to around 100 staffers) on a week-by-week basis, with the hope that a strike will be settled soon.

Leno has been hit by heavy criticism over the past day or two, after "Tonight Show" staffers received their pink slips from NBC on Friday -- with no word from Leno that he might be willing to pick up the slack and pay their salaries for the time being. In comparison, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" host Conan O'Brien had previously agreed to pay his staff's paychecks out of his own pocket once NBC cut them off (which also happened on Friday) -- causing quite a bit of grumbling in the "Tonight Show" camp.

Here's what one staffer told Variety on Friday:

“We haven’t heard from him since the second or third day of the strike,” said a former Leno staffer. “He called on speakerphone while we were in our daily meeting and said, ‘Don’t look for other jobs, no one’s going to lose their house, we’ll get though this.’ Two weeks ago, we got the heads up that we had two more weeks (of pay) and that’s it. Everyone wondered, ‘Is Jay going to come through?’ And nothing happened. Conan makes less and he said, ‘I’m going to pay for my people.’ ”

Insiders say Leno was caught off guard by the heavy dose of criticism. According to a source close to the show, the Christmas bonuses handed out by Leno on Friday (believed to be $100 times the number of years a recipient has been on staff) were never meant to be in lieu of a paycheck.

Instead, one source said Leno had been optimistic about the talks between the WGA and AMPTP, and didn't believe he'd necessarily have to worry about his staff.

"He never said he wouldn't pay the staff," a source said. "He is paying them next week."

Even with the NBC pinkslips, and no guarantee (until now) that they would be paid by Leno, the show's bookers were still planning on visiting the "Tonight Show" offices on Wednesday -- to make sure the show still has guests on tap, in the event that (a) the strike is settled, or (b) the "Tonight Show" resumes broadcasting, perhaps with guest hosts.

-- Michael Schneider

[grentz7721]

I hope the writers accept the offer though.

[Brent]

Don't forget! The biggest DH episode since Bang tonight! Also the last new episode for a long unknown amount of time. (There is one episode after this one but it seems ABC will hold it over until the strike ends).

Also a huge episode of B&S(It should have a few episodes in January or February).

[lurkey]

Online Continues To Look Good As Writers Strike Drags On, And On, And On.

Younger audiences are already switching off TV, with various surveys indicating that a growing number of viewers prefer the internet over television.

[Brent]

DH=Best episode EVER. If this is indeed the season finale due to the strike, it is an amazing way to end.

[CajunMama]

Well we know victor won't be back

[JonathanBelles]

For not watching DH for a long time, a season or two, not much has changed. This episode was damn good though.

[Brent]

Well we know victor won't be back

Or that crazy psycho witch! I liked the getting sucked out of the house.

at the end. I was NOT expecting that.

What a way to end the season(if the strike does indeed continue).

[Regit]

I haven't really been into DH, but this was a good episode. The responses by people to a tornado watch was ridiculous, though. They were treating it as a hurricane watch.

Also, who else besides Victor is dead? At the beginning, Mary Alice said that someone would lose a husband and everyone would lose a friend. Victor wasn't really anyone's friend, so I think that refers to someone else.

It can't be Tom, as the husband part was singular. So is Carlos also dead? He was hit by what appeared to be a metal object that could likely have killed him.

And what happened to the cat?

[Brent]

I haven't really been into DH, but this was a good episode. The responses by people to a tornado watch was ridiculous, though. They were treating it as a hurricane watch.

Also, who else besides Victor is dead? At the beginning, Mary Alice said that someone would lose a husband and everyone would lose a friend. Victor wasn't really anyone's friend, so I think that refers to someone else.

It can't be Tom, as the husband part was singular. So is Carlos also dead? He was hit by what appeared to be a metal object that could likely have killed him.

And what happened to the cat?

The "friend" is up in the air... but I'm guessing Ida Greenberg(cat lady), who was in the basement with Tom and the kids.

I really don't think Carlos is dead, but they sure left it in doubt(and the reason I say no is because it would kill both men in Gaby's life, I don't see that happening).

[Miss Mary]

Sorry guys - one word for the DH episode - cheesy.

Happy to see Victor was one of the dead. Happy to see the new stalker character as another. But the third is up in the air. If the husband is Victor then who is the "friend" that perishes? Karen McCluskey's friend Ida? I'm going with that b/c I want to see Tom and Carlos survive and the Scavo kids.

So yeah, I'm declaring the third casualty is Ida.

And why wasn't Bree concerned about Andrew? Did I miss a frantic call from her to him, to be sure he was safe in that awful apartment he's living in?

But compared to the grocery store/hostage episode last year, this one had so much hype that I expected more I guess. Sorry, to disagree with the majority here but I feel let down today. I thought the episode could have been better. And less hype going into it would have better. Imagine the talk today! Like last year's hostage episode - that was gripping. This was well, scripted.

I'm done....