The fall TV season could be dramatically affected, with a heavy rotation of reality series and news magazines filling in for sitcoms and dramas. The current frenzy of movie production, induced by strike fears, would stop dead. The union has focused on the residuals that writers receive for basic cable and foreign TV and for videocassettes. The guild maintains it has made economic concessions over the years to help markets like video and cable TV develop, but is now entitled to a greater share of profits. It is asking for 1 cent more per cassette.
Studios respond that production costs in other areas have risen.
And they note that writers are not the industry's only mouths to feed. They're just looking at it in a vacuum,'' said alliance president Nick Counter. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, coming off the six-month commercial strike that was Hollywood's longest walkout, share some contract issues. Observers have suggested that the actors and writers may end up essentially negotiating together if the WGA contract expires without a deal.