It will get even stickier in the next two weeks for the Big Four broadcast networks if the ongoing Hollywood labor strike is not resolved.
The Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have been on strike since May 2 and July 14, respectively, forcing ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC to rejigger their nightly programming schedules due to the dearth of scripted series — while relying heavily on reality TV, game shows and sports.
As of this writing, neither the WGA nor SAG-AFTRA has settled their respective disputes, although the WGA and the studios are currently meeting at the table.
“If the strike isn’t resolved by Oct. 1, it becomes really challenging to get scripted shows onto the air within the traditional broadcast season,” said Michael Thorn, president of scripted programming for Fox Entertainment. “The latest you want to premiere these shows — in order to launch or return a show, in our opinion, is in March, and once you get past that window, then we start looking into the summer.
“I don’t want to present [Oct. 1] as a [fait accompli],” Thorn said. “If the strike ends Oct. 4, will people get creative [to get scripted content on the air]? Of course. If it ends shortly after that, will [Fox] look at opportunities at the beginning of the summer where we’ve had a lot of success? You bet we will.
“I think that’s a fair, loose date that most of the industry is using as a benchmark,” Thorn said. “It’s like, all right, your show may get pushed to the fall depending on what company you’re in business with and what network you’re on.”
Fox, like the CW, has weathered the strike storm better than most, with its emphasis on animation, reality and sports (most notably NFL football).
“Of course it’s not ideal, but we went into this fall ready [for the strike],” Thorn said. “We’re the only network that has a full night of scripted programming with our Sunday night animation lineup, and within that night, we have a new and original series with ‘Krapopolis.’ Animation is part of our DNA.”
CW entertainment chief Brad Schwartz said the streaming networks have more latitude regarding premiere dates for scripted shows.
“Streamers tend to plan so far in advance that they have stuff on the shelf they will be able to roll out for a little bit,” Schwartz told The Post. “The broadcast networks will be a bit behind — but look at what CBS did with [a rerun of] ‘Yellowstone’ [the night of Sept. 17] — nearly 7 million viewers with a 7-year-old show.
“People are going to be entrepreneurial and scrappy and figure out how to manage through this.”
That gets trickier by the day as the strikes drag on. Reality shows and some daytime talk shows, including “Sherri,” are exempt. “The ‘Sherri’ show is not a WGA show, and we have never employed WGA writers, so us coming back to work isn’t crossing the picket line,” host Sherri Shepherd said on her season opener. The same holds true for “Live With Kelly and Mark” and “Tamron Hall.”
Talk show hosts including Drew Barrymore, Bill Maher (“Real Time”) and Jennifer Hudson as well as “The Talk” hit the pause button on returning on schedule due to WGA outrage and negative industry reaction. For now, months-old repeats will fill that void. “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” which relocated to New York, has yet to announce its Season 5 launch date.
And, in some cases, networks have reversed their decisions to return shows for second seasons due to the strikes — including, most recently, Peacock’s “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin,” according to Deadline. It joins Prime Video’s “The Peripheral” and “A League of Their Own,” among others.
Schwartz said the CW, which is owned by Nexstar, does have four scripted shows — “All American,” “All American: Homecoming,” “Walker” and “Superman & Lois” — that have been impacted by the labor disputes.
“We told the street we were going to be profitable by 2025,” Schwartz said. “For us, that meant finding more efficient, economic, scrappy ways of putting content on the air. Some of that was getting into sports [‘Inside the NFL,’ LIV Golf League] and some of that was getting into the unscripted world.
“We wanted to maintain at least half the schedule in the scripted world … and for us, that’s a lot of international co-productions with companies in Australia, the UK, France and Canada,” he said. “We are very well-protected from the strike. It has nothing to do with our programming plans; I have a schedule here on my desk right through the end of 2024.
“Our four shows that are impacted by the strike … we’re hoping to get them in Q3 or Q4 next year. Everything else we have covered.”
ABC, CBS and NBC pivoted to reality and reruns of their scripted series with a few exceptions. NBC premieres “The Irrational,” starring Jesse L. Martin, Sept. 25, and “Found” (starring Shanola Hampton) Oct. 3. CBS will premiere its spinoff, “NCIS: Sydney,” Nov. 14. (It bows Nov. 10 in Australia.) ABC is not airing any new scripted shows and, among its reality and game-show slate, only “The Golden Bachelor” is new.
“We’re ready, and we have a robust schedule — including into early next year,” Fox’s Thorn said. “On the scripted side, in January, we have another animated series we’re proud of, ‘Grimsburg‘ (starring Jon Hamm). I think everyone … is going to have to look at their assets and strengths and figure out how to leverage those strengths [if the strikes continue]. For Fox, we will continue our strategy, animation, in this case, and unscripted programming and sports until that time that we can get shows back on the air. If not spring, then summer exists as a possibility for us, and, of course, next fall.
“We just have to be patient.”
“One thing I can guarantee you is that this will sort itself out,” said Schwartz. “We know this will end, we just don’t know when.”
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