With the announcement by SAGAFTRA that they too would go on strike, now striking alongside the writers who have been on strike for months, many are wondering what will happen with our favorite TV shows and movies over the next months and years. Though we will not know exactly how it will all shake out, there are already movements by the studios in particular that show what the future likely will look like as the strike continues.
Less Scripted TV, More Reality TV
Studios and networks want to have content for viewers, especially cheaper content that doesn’t rely on striking workers, and for that they have turned to reality TV as one of their stopgap measures. If you look ahead at Fall line-ups from ABC and others you can already see an influx of reality programming.
More International TV Shows
Thanks to overseas hits on streaming platforms, such as Squid Game, streamers can be confident that while they attempt to wait out the writers and actors they will have plenty of content from overseas, and our neighbors to the north and south, available for viewers.
Perhaps this is why Netflix, knowing contract negotiations were coming, is part of why they emphasized their list of Korean titles coming to Netflix so early on in the year.
Certainly TV networks as well such as The CW appear to be supplementing their schedule with Canadian and European shows.
Re-Runs / Premieres of Older Shows
One option that seems to be getting some test cases is for networks in particular to re-run older shows, or premiere “new” shows that were on another network or streaming service prior to now.
The CW in their Fall schedule announced that they will be airing Kims’ Convenience, which was a hit show in Canada but had yet to air in America on TV, this Fall. (Netflix is presently streaming Kims’ Convenience as of this writing.)
Cartoon Network and Adult Swim also appear to be looking to classic shows to fill their timeslots, though this hasn’t been directly stated in the announcement to showcase older shows.
What are you doing at 5PM August 28th? #cartoonnetwork #adultswim pic.twitter.com/5UirO56BOj
— adult swim (@adultswim) July 17, 2023
ABC, which is owned by parent company Disney, will also be airing Ms. Marvel on their channel, which is Disney’s first show originally released exclusively on streaming to air on broadcast TV. Though this has been promoted as a chance for more audiences to see Ms. Marvel before the forthcoming film The Marvels, one could imagine it works doubly as a test case as well for Disney.
Rate Hikes for Streaming Subscription Services
As actors and writers fight for better wages and benefits, and studios say they’re struggling too, its perhaps unsurprising that one answer for the studios and streaming services is to increase subscription rates.
Netflix just announced a price change, and this will certainly be one of the first but not the last.
I’ve said this for a while: streaming services’ prices were artificially low to entice subscriptions. As platforms chase profit, subscriber fees will mostly increase; Netflix just eliminated its basic tier for new subscribers after Peacock raised its fees. https://t.co/Q23HM7lRo9
— Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) July 19, 2023
