TV Q&A: Will DISH and WPXI-TV’s parent company ever settle?
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Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.
Q: I’m a DISH Network customer. We haven’t had NBC’s WPXI-TV for more than seven months and I’m still paying the same amount. Is there something that can be done about that?
— Phyllis, Export
Rob: The retransmission dispute between WPXI-TV’s parent company and DISH Network that resulted in WPXI, Pittsburgh’s NBC affiliate, coming off DISH began in late November 2022. At this point if I had DISH and was out of contract, I’d switch to a different cable provider or streaming option that includes local channels.
If you’re not out of contract, call DISH and demand a discount. I am sure DISH’s customer contract makes allowances for retransmission disputes so they likely don’t have to offer a discount but perhaps they will if asked (I’ve heard of it happening during past, prolonged retrans disputes).
Q: I had a friend of a friend who was a writer on an MTV reality series. Now, maybe they don’t have writers on all reality shows or maybe they are not part of the unions, but can they record and air reality shows during the strike?
I know that “Big Brother” is being delayed. I can’t imagine what the major networks will air with both writers and actors on strike. How long do you think the strikes will last?
— Linda, via Facebook
Rob: My sense is these concurrent writers’ and actors’ strikes will go on for a while and will not resolve anytime soon.
I’d need to know the title of the MTV reality show in question to confirm if it is a unionized show. Most are not. Most reality shows have story editors who craft an episode’s stories by sifting through hours and hours of footage that may result in drawing up a document for post-production editing but it is based on what was said rather than a script given to reality stars to memorize and repeat back as an actor would. Reality shows will continue to film during the current actors’ and writers’ strikes, although Bethenny Frankel thinks reality stars should unionize (good luck with that!). Reality stars are not currently in an actors union. Even SAG-AFTRA members who host talk shows and game shows can continue to do so because they work under a different contract that is not under strike jurisdiction, per SAG-AFTRA.
“Big Brother” was delayed until August not because its story editors are on strike but so the show will run into the fall when there will be few new scripted shows airing due to the writers’ strike.
Q: Just saw that CBS announced its fall schedule. Many series that were shown last year are not on it and I am thinking that is because of the writers’/actors’ strike. But there were a few listed: “NCIS” but not “NCIS: Hawaii.” “FBI” but not “FBI: International” or FBI: Most Wanted.” Were these canceled? Or just didn’t film before the strike happened?
— Linda, Pittsburgh
Rob: CBS renewed “NCIS: Hawaii,” “FBI: International” and “FBI: Most Wanted” along with a slew of other series in February.
Due to the writers’ strike, there were few scripts ready for the 2023-24 TV season and now there are no actors to perform the non-existent scripts due to the actors’ strike. For fall, CBS is choosing to air reruns of some of its established scripted shows but not others. My assumption is the shows they chose to rerun this fall typically get better ratings in reruns than those they chose not to rerun.
NBC also released a revised fall schedule that features a mix of reruns, reality shows and a few new scripted series with episodes produced before the strikes.
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Q: The Xfinity On Demand service for Turner Classic Movies added few new movies this month, where normally it shows new movies added daily. Do you know anything about this?
— Tony, via email
Rob: Tony contacted me the first week of July and a TCM representative assured me it was a technical error that was being worked on and would be resolved shortly. Two weeks later, Tony wrote to me again as the problem persisted. My understanding is TCM technicians are still dealing with the repercussions of the original server issue and are still working to fix it in its entirety.