This past summer much of Hollywood was out of business while the writers and actors were both on strike.  As a result, the studios went into a mad scramble to cover the airtime that had been left empty by the absence of new programming.

Not surprising, the empty airwaves were filled with reruns, foreign programs, and reality shows that did not require writers or actors.

After over 100 days of striking, the writers and actors got what they wanted…mostly.  But, at what cost?

Everyone is back to work, but the winter television season set to begin in January is still filled with reality and game shows that will require minimum professional Hollywood participation.  Is this the beginning of the next wave of amateur programming where the studios can rake in bigger profits while avoiding the higher fees and royalties won by the strikes?

The writers got more protections from AI – Artificial Intelligence -, assuring that the majority of the work will be done by live writers.  The actors have assured that their likenesses will be preserved from AI.

When it comes to royalties from streaming, the writers and actors will see some increases; but even then it is unsure if the numbers will be fair since most streaming services refuse to release the viewer numbers that trigger the royalties.

Network and cable television series are increasingly being spun off from long standing series with few actual original programming.  Gone are the 24 to 26 episode seasons that ran from September to May, taking only breaks during the holidays for special programming.  A “season” is now just 10 to 15 weeks with several “seasons” during a year, making it harder for fans to stay engaged in a program and its characters.

Even though the networks, cable channels, and streaming services are creating “original” programming; there are still thousands of older series and programs for TV watching fans to engage and remember their childhood or happier times.

While it may be moving slowly, the latest Hollywood strikes could very well be the beginning of the end for television and even Hollywood itself as we know it.  It begs the question of how much longer can traditional television networks last?  Sporting programs have long dominated network television; but have for the past several years being overtaken by the cable channels and in the past couple of years, streaming services have begun to encroach on the sporting monopoly.

Last year, Amazon took over Thursday Night Football and only last week, NASCAR inked a new broadcasting package that crosses all three formats – network, cable, and streaming – that sees only about a quarter of the races broadcast on a network channel.  Later this month, NBC is using their streaming service Peacock to broadcast two NFL games – exclusively on the service.  How much longer will it be before streaming takes over the broadcasting of sporting events?