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60% of Viewers Favor Writers Over Studios

Strike prompts switch to reality shows—and reading, sleeping

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 19, 2007 1:52 PM CST

(Newser) – The sympathies of viewers affected by the Hollywood writers' strike lie squarely with the writers, not the studios, a new poll shows. USA Today reports that 60% of Americans side with the scribes, and only 14% with their erstwhile employers. Reactions to the strike are varied: Many viewers watch more reruns, more reality shows, and/or less TV in general.

Viewers of late-night shows, the first programs hit by the strike, were split in their reactions to the strike: Roughly equal numbers say they watch other shows, go to bed earlier, and read instead of watching TV. Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are set to return to air in January without their writing staffs, dealing a blow to the strike.

Writer Sherwood Schwartz, 91, center, who created, wrote and produced The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, along with his children, Lloyd Schwartz, 61, Ross Schwartz, 58, right, Hope Juber, 51, background-center, and grandchild, Andy Schwartz, background-left, all writers, join striking film and television writers outside Paramount Studios Tuesday, Dec. 11,...
Writer Sherwood Schwartz, 91, center, who created, wrote and produced The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, along with his children, Lloyd Schwartz, 61, Ross Schwartz, 58, right, Hope Juber, 51, background-center,...   (Associated Press)
Thousands of Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers gather to march down  Hollywood Boulevard Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, in Los Angeles on the 16th day of their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Thousands of Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers gather to march down Hollywood Boulevard Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, in Los Angeles on the 16th day of their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture...   (Associated Press)
Thousands of Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers and others in the fifth day of their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in a rally at Fox Plaza in Los Angeles' Century City district Friday, Nov. 9, 2007.  (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Thousands of Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers and others in the fifth day of their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in a rally at Fox Plaza in Los Angeles'...   (Associated Press)
Jay Leno of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno greets supporters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and others on the picket line in front of Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., in this Nov., 13, 2007, file photo. Leno and Conan O'Brien's late-night shows will return to...
Jay Leno of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" greets supporters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and others on the picket line in front of Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., in this...   (Associated Press)
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