TV Business Faces Further Contraction As Marketplace Reopens: “The Bubble Has Burst”

deadline.com:

After 148 days of a WGA strike that ground production to a halt and put tens of thousands out of work, everyone in Hollywood has a reason to celebrate this week after the guild and the studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday night and the strike came to an end this morning.

The WGA leadership, which approved the deal yesterday and sent it to the membership for a vote, has called “exceptional” the agreement, which includes AI guardrails, viewership-based residuals, writers room minimums, pay raises and other major gains.

Strikers, who spent months on the picket lines to protect the future of writing as a profession, have been sharing their joy on social media, telling each other excitedly, “Let’s go back to work.” For those working in television, however it is not clear what kind of business and marketplace they will be going back to.

It likely won’t be what they left five months ago. Accelerated contraction, more competition, reeled-in budgets, fewer overall deals and possibly more cancellations are some of the things industry sources are preparing for.