A New Reality: Strike Changes TV Channels

Dec. 19, 2007 Special to ABCNEWS.com — -- With Tinseltown's storytellers confined to the picket lines, broadcast networks are loading up on unscripted entertainment, better known as reality TV.

While the central issue between Hollywood's striking writers and the studios and networks that employ them is compensation for digital media, the matter of jurisdiction for reality TV entered into this week's negotiations. Despite long-time efforts by the Writers' Guild, most unscripted shows aren't covered under the current contracts, making them attractive programming options during the current stoppage and providing networks leverage at the bargaining table.

Click here to see television's new reality at our partner site, Forbes.com.

One need only look at the upcoming lineups of Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, General Electric's NBC, News Corp.'s Fox, CBS and the CW to see the deluge of "reality" scheduled to hit broadcast airwaves. According to TVtracker.com, a Web-based resource and consulting service to the TV industry, the five networks collectively have 48.5 possible hours of reality fare in their mid-season pipeline. If the strike drags on, count on that number to shoot up.

"No one says that this is, or even hopes that this is the answer," says Bill Carroll, vice president and director of programming at media buying and consulting firm Katz Television Group, of the reality-heavy schedules. "This is a stop-gap to get us from here to there."

To be sure, many of the upcoming series would have aired with or without a stoppage, given the genre's surge in popularity (can you say American Idol?), to say nothing of its cheaper price tag. But with scripted series like ABC's Desperate Housewives and NBC's The Office already halted, and the remaining poised to dry up by early 2008, networks are increasingly dependent on reality fare.

Consider NBC: On Jan. 3, the fourth-place network will roll out an updated version of ratings-challenged The Apprentice, featuring 14 barely-recognizable stars. Among them: actor Stephen Baldwin, model Carol Alt and former Apprentice Omarosa. Rather than compete for a gig with The Donald as previous Apprentice contestants have done, this crop is battling it out for camera time--er, charity.