WGA returns to the bargaining table, a strike update

I decided to post a strike update for today's Sunday entertainment feature. Awards shows can wait, just like they are in real life. In fact, "the 75th Emmy Awards will now air on Monday, January 15, 2024." That's a four-month delay.

To make up for that information, I have some encouraging news today, as Yahoo Finance reported Hollywood strikes continue as writers, studios agree to restart negotiations on Friday.

The writers union is returning to the bargaining table, agreeing to restart talks with Hollywood studios. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal joins the Live show to provide an update on the state of the Hollywood strikes and the effect that these strikes are having on major studios like Paramount (PARA) and Disney (DIS).

Yahoo Finance featured a lot more management perspectives than I usually include in these posts. I shouldn't be surprised because they cater to investors. DW News presented more of the writers' side when the service asked Writers return to negotiations: Has their strike been successful?

Writers in Hollywood are resuming negotiations with the studios today. So far, both sides have been far apart with revenue-sharing playing a central role. The head of the Writer's Guild previously said the union wouldn't return to negotiations unless the studios were willing to discuss residual payments on streaming services -- something the studios had said was off the table.

As Dan Garza and his puppet Jeff said, these strikes are affecting everyone in Hollywood, not just the actors and writers, to the tune of $3 billion so far. Not all consequences are bad, at least in the short run, as CNBC explained in Why the WGA strike is helping studios combat financial pressure.

James Stewart, columnist at The New York Times, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss how the ongoing writers' strike is helping studios with cost-cutting measures, the content supply pressures created by the WGA strike, and WGA's return to the negotiating table.

In the long run, the studios will need to settle with the actors and writers so that they can produce more content. Until that content runs out, the strikes are saving them money in the short run. It's going to be quite the balancing act for all parties involved.

Until then, new entertainment content will come from sports. The pros are not on strike and college sports will go on as long as there is no return of the pandemic. I might even resume watching sports in the fall. Until then, my wife and I have lots of shows to watch and video games to play when I'm not working.

I conclude with KCAL reporting WGA: Hollywood studios offer counterproposal, but details withheld.

The Writers Guild of America and representatives of Hollywood studios held their first negotiating session Friday since the union went on strike May 2, and while no specifics were released, the WGA told its members that studios offered a "counterproposal" to union demands.

While I still think these strikes are not ending any time soon, there is at least some progress. Stay tuned.