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LOS ANGELES - As the Hollywood writers' strike winds through a second week, many American viewers are missing the political satire they've come to love on late-night talk shows, but otherwise appear unconcerned.
The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, and shows hosted by David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien -- which riff on the day's headlines and thus require close-to-airdate writing -- are the main casualties of the strike that started on November 5.
"I have no idea what's going on in the world since I can't get my Colbert Report and The Daily Show. I'm completely lost," said Michael Mandelberg, a Los Angeles-based irrigation consultant.
But aside from reruns of the late-night shows and daily newscasts of the screenwriters' picket lines, little has changed for American TV viewers. And an opinion poll by Malibu-based Pepperdine University shows that so far, audiences don't really care.
The survey of 1,000 adults conducted online by market research firm Synovate from November 7 through November 9 found that 75 per cent are not very concerned or not concerned at all about the TV-viewing implications of the writers strike.
But industry watchers believe public sentiment will change if the work stoppage drags on. The strike has come just as the race heats up for the November 2008 presidential election -- a rich source of jokes at candidates' expense.
"If it goes beyond a month, viewers will start tuning out, and my guess is that online viewing and advertising will rise, said veteran media analyst Hal Vogel, CEO of Vogel Capital Management. "The biggest risk broadcasters face is losing valuable audience interest."
Viewers have more alternatives than ever as a growing number of people watch video online or on their mobile phones, or use TiVo and similar devices to record and watch programs at their convenience.
Indeed, the main sticking point in the labor dispute are demands by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for a greater share of the revenues generated from TV and films delivered over the internet, mobile phones and other digital platforms.
Losing 'the Fifth Estate'
Some industry watchers doubt a months-long strike will significantly affect viewing habits.
Andrew Lipsman of comScore Inc, an internet tracking research company, said there was no evidence to suggest that there will be any dramatic increase of internet usage due to the writers strike and a disruption of prime time.
Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, agreed. "I think the strike will be an invitation to channel surf," he said.
But Thompson said the absence of fresh late-night political discourse should not be underestimated. He said these shows have grown in significance and popularity as dissatisfaction with the mainstream news media and coverage of the war in Iraq has grown.
That is one big difference from the last protracted Hollywood strike in 1988, which lasted 22 weeks, when talk show hosts like David Letterman were still shying away from politics.
"Comedy Central (which carries The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Saturday Night Live,) has become the Fifth Estate, taking the Fourth Estate to task for not doing their due diligence on the first three estates," he said.
"It's unfortunate that these voices have been silenced one year ahead of the presidential election, when the public could really use this stuff," he said.
According to the Pepperdine study, about 40 per cent of Americans said if repeats are substituted for first-run shows, they would spend more time watching reruns. Forty-two per cent said they would read more, about 38 per cent said they would rent movies and 35 per cent said they would surf the Web.
"I used to watch Jay Leno for his monologue because he makes fun of the current events, but it's all repeats now, so I just turn off the TV and read a book instead," said Tina Grant, a California entrepreneur.
- REUTERS
