Don’t let the beard fool you….why Letterman, O’Brian and Leno are a Stalking Horse in the WGA and AMPTP Strike
Stalking Horse - You’ve heard the term before, and who would have ever imagined that we would be using the term in the context of the WGA strike and what is currently occurring in the entertainment business.
Simply so that we are all on the same page, the term Stalking Horse is defined as “someone or something whose role is to become the focal point for, or the initiator of, a debate or challenge. In reality, however, their leadership role may be an illusion, and the stalking horse is really working to promote a challenge or debate that will benefit a third party whose identity remains a secret.”
Given what we know, and have discussed, about the Advertising community and Advertising model (relative to the Broadcast world), the question that begs to be asked is “who benefits most by maintaining the status quo?”
Jay Leno, David Letterman and other high profile talk show hosts like them, have become a Stalking Horse, I believe, and have been played into the position of being a focal point so that efforts being made to achieve certain business advantages by one of the sides are not easily or readily revealed or discovered.
Yes, the battle between the WGA and the AMPTP is about compensation. Both sides have squared off on issues that are important to them. But I submit to you that there is also the probability that one, or maybe both, sides have also engaged in a behind the scenes covert campaign that ultimately will yield an outcome that is outside of the key issues of the strike.
Today’s headline in Daily Variety and plastered across the CNBC and other news outlets is the news about how Studio’s are ending many “first look” deals to trim costs. Yes this is a byproduct of the strike, but it can also can be the result of different plan.
Generally speaking, I am not a conspiracy theory person. That is not to imply that conspiracy’s do not exist. But as I look at the landscape of the entertainment industry and watch the days roll into weeks, and the weeks roll into months, I begin to wonder what forces are at work that are PREVENTING progress towards resolution.
Both the WGA and AMPTP have leadership and negotiating committees that are made of executives that negotiate billions of dollars of deals on any given year. They each represent the individual and collective interests of thousands of people. Some of these deals have tremendous intricacies and complexities and can make the most astute legal mind beg for mercy. Yet with all of the Ivy League and Thoroughbred gray matter involved we can’t seem to find a way to reach compromise and sound business ideas?
A recent news report suggests that the total sum of lost economic opportunity is now 3 times greater than the richest WGA - AMPTP deal. If this is true, then it would take the entertainment (and it’s supporting) industry half a decade (maybe longer) to recover from this strike.
In a climate where the health of our national economy is beginning to show signs of a runny nose and cough, the idea of a continued and protracted strike makes little sense. Unless of course, ” …this may be an illusion, and the stalking horse is really working to promote a challenge or debate that will benefit a third party whose identity remains a secret.”
* FLUTIE *
January 13th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
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