Last Man Standing (Writers' Strike Aftermath)

Now that the writers' strike is over, every media buyer is climbing out of their foxhole to survey the damage and determine who is left standing. It was an interesting time that was filled with uncertainty and a bit of chaos.

You see, media buying requires two basic elements – clients with products and services to advertise and programming in which to place those advertisements. As with any good capitalist society, too much supply and not enough demand or too much demand and not enough supply leads to a multitude of problems. It has resulted in a perfect storm of media nightmares all thrown into the mix at once.

An example of this is the projected $4 billion dollar ploitical infusion of media buys that will most certainly saturate the market with not nearly enough supply to even out the playing field.

This is causing some interesting changes to the business, not all of which is bad. Due to the supply and demand imbalance, NBC is looking at a 52 - week season rather than the traditional fall and spring schedule – which means more opportunity for the buying public. Unfortunatly, networks are also looking at less scripted programming and more reality TV - and I am having a hard time seeing the positive in that.

In the end, as with any good vacation – self-imposed or not – the writers, producers and casts will come back refreshed and ready to work. I think it will result in one of the best seasons of television in recent memory.

Watching late night talk shows struggle without writers was entertaining enough, but now I am ready for my favorite television programs to return.

Jaci Russo - Sr. Partner
The Russo Group