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Pilot Season is in Jeopardy

The writers' strike isn't ending anytime soon, and it's looking the traditional tv pilot season may not happen at all.

The disruption of the pilot season, which runs from January through April, would shake up the $9 billion "upfront" market that begins in May when advertisers pay to book commercial time long in advance of a broadcast.

Some experts believe the very time frame of the broadcast season as a whole, which has traditionally run from September to May, may now be relegated to entertainment history. "This strike is certainly going to cause a shift. If it isn't resolved by February 1, it will rule out many pilots," said Jeff Hermanson, assistant executive director of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

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Industry sources said the networks have only a few scripted programs in development and even fewer pilots shot. Some fear the 2008-2009 TV season may be scuttled altogether if the strike lasts into February or that the upfronts -- during which networks sell roughly 85 percent of their annual commercial inventory -- will be pushed to June or July.

We think that if the strike isn't settled soon (and the AMPTP refuses to even come back to the bargaining table) the entire television industry will change. That could eventually be a good thing, but it's going to make for some truly awful television programming for the next year or so.

Posted on December 21, 2007

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