From today’s Los Angeles Times:
As the writers’ strike stampedes through its second month and the possibility of an actors’ strike looms, it’s time to ask: When — and how — should consumers get involved?
Should we, say, consider canceling our subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, Max or any of the many other streaming services vying for our eyeballs and dollars until the strike is resolved?
Would that be helpful? Or, in this streaming-addicted culture, is it even possible?
Many cord-cutters are already unhappy with what was supposed to be an economical alternative to pricey cable bundles. With complicated multiplatform deals and studios clawing back content for their own streamers, keeping track of what series lives where has become a full-time job. And even as originators like Netflix lose popular content, every year brings a price increase.
Now the streamers have forced at least one strike, and possibly another, that will have a harmful long-term impact not just on the entertainment industry but on the economies of any city in which television is made.
Streaming platforms are not the only studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but the writers’ work stoppage has become known at the Netflix strike — and for good reason: Most of the WGA’s demands, and many of SAG-AFTRA’s concerns, involve the business model of original-content streaming platforms, in which shorter seasons and an absence of traditional residuals have left many writers and actors struggling to make a living.
Read the complete story here.