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In balloting conducted yesterday, WGA members voted overwhelmingly to end the three-month-old strike.
Officials informed members that they should plan to return to work today (Wednesday), according to the Hollywood Reporter. The tentative three-year contract between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers gives writers annual pay raises of 3 percent to 3.5 percent, plus historic gains in residuals for new media content.
But despite the end of the strike, the question remains whether viewers - who had become tired of repeats and turned to cable or turned off the TV altogether - will return to broadcast television.
During the strike, people spent more time on social networking websites, played more games online, and watched a record number of online videos, writes the Los Angeles Times. YouTube gained the most, with the number of videos streamed on the site soaring 12 percent from November to December, well above the overall steady growth rate of online video viewing. The amount of time visitors spent watching videos online also increased, up seven minutes to a total of 111 minutes a month.
Viewing of cable networks surged, as well, and DVD sales, which had been in decline, picked up a bit in January.
While these changes in media consumption cannot directly be linked to the walkout, it is likely that the lack of new shows on broadcast television accelerated the change in viewing habits and the shifts in leisure activities.
Though viewers will return to hits like Grey’s Anatomy, House and Heroes, the network television audience is not likely to return to pre-strike levels, say media analysts.
Since the 1980s, viewers have been trickling away from broadcast in a gradual erosion that has become enormously significant, says Jeffrey Cole, director of USC’s Center for the Digital Future. In 1975, the three broadcast networks accounted for 90 percent of all television viewing. Today, the five networks rarely account for more than half, and by the end of January, that number was down to just 48 percent.
Cable networks have gained viewers, and now account for 56 percent of the television audience.
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