Reply #18: Another poster mentioned something about if you don't know what this is about

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but didn't expand, but implied the answer was in the clip, which it was, sorta. So ignore this post if you already know.

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What's going on is this:

Originally actors and writers who had a halfway-decent contract got paid for the shows/films they did, and also got residuals. "Residuals" is basically a term for money paid for reruns. It's slightly more complicated than that, but let's leave it there. So, if you were Barbara Eden (I'm guessing/hoping she had a decent contract) you got paid for the show, and you got paid for every time a rerun of "I dream of Jeannie" was on TV. It might not be much, but it adds up.

Anyway, this was fine when things were in theatres and didn't make it to TV until four+ years later (remember that?). Then VHS and DVDs appeared and the landscape changed. The writers negotiated an arrangement, but that was when DVDs and VHS (probably VHS mainly) cost up to $80 to purchase (remember THAT??). Anyway, they seemed to have gotten screwed on the deal. So now, with the new media distribution over the Internet they want to stake out their space before it gets spoken for.

The studios are claiming they don't make money, or don't know what they'll make. That's probably true, no one knows exactly how the income will be derived, assuming there's income.

The writers, however, aren't asking for a fixed amount. They're asking for an arrangement of "when you get paid, we get paid". A studio makes no money, then no royalties. A studio makes a dollar, then a royalty. A studio makes $100, then a bigger royalty.

Studios (and music labels too, but we won't go there) are notorious for creative accounting when it comes calculating royalties. Nevertheless, the sticking point is the writers saying "we only get paid when you get paid" and the studios taking the position of "we can't make deals because we don't know how this will work yet".

In the meantime, many shows are in jeopardy. Some are pre-written, but not directed yet, making on-site modifications difficult. Some are "in the can" meaning they're shot and just waiting to be shown. Some are halfway through, for instance "24" which has 8 episodes shot, leading at least one wag to wonder if it will have to be renamed "8".

The ones that are screwed the most are things like The Daily Show (and Letterman and Leno and Conan) that do daily commentary. They pretty much have to stop immediately.

Net result: Expect to see a lot more of strident harpies on shows like "The View" and less actual writing. Bright side: you might appreciate the writers more.

I will say that in all my years of watching television, even though I watch very little nowadays, that although there's a bunch of crap out there, there's also a much higher caliber of writing for many shows. Perhaps competition works - the really good shows ("La Femme Nikita" (except for the fifth season), "Sopranos", "House", "24", and many others) are far better than the crap that was spewed out in the 70's ("Adam 12", "Starsky & Hutch", and worse).
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Forgive the microlecture, but I hope this helped someone.