Coda

Last Scene Missing

The strike by the Writers Guild of America is now entering its third week. The script that’s being written is long on rhetoric and collateral damage; but no final scene has been drafted.

In fact, as Multichannel News went to press Friday, no talks were even scheduled between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The work stoppage has idled an estimated 100 television shows, according to the union.

While strike watchers predict a boon for YouTube and other Internet destinations, a report from ad agency Magna Global predicts viewers will return to TV after the strike.

The WGA is getting the attention of politicos. Friday, in Los Angeles, presidential contender John Edwards was announced as a guest star on the picket line at NBC, along with other California officials, and the leaders of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild have been to Washington, pleading the case of the strikers to Democrats on the Hill.

Among the collateral damage: Some chinks were exposed in cross-union solidarity. The president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees released a letter castigating WGA for idling stage hands and other production staffers. The stage employees had attributed the strike to ego and inexperience by the chief WGA negotiator, David Young.

Also, caught in the crossfire: TV critics. The strike has caused the January Television Critics Association tour to be shortened to five days from three weeks, with cable shows — not broadcast — the major focus. But even cable-network staffers are privately questioning the value of the publicity push if they can’t get actors, who generate most of the ink, to cross the lines for the event.

This week, watch for a mass writers’ march on Hollywood Boulevard on Nov. 20. — Linda Moss and Linda Haugsted

Fox In A Hole

FSN Ohio and its parent, Fox Cable Networks, fought tooth and nail to stop their dispute with a cable operator in Massillon, Ohio, from going to arbitration. Fox Cable lost that fight over whether its price should drop following the loss of Cleveland Indians TV rights (see page 5).

That’s not a good precedent for Fox.

Massillon had acted under the so-called Fox-Hughes conditions, set on News Corp. in 2004 when it bought a stake in DirecTV, which says distributors can seek arbitration for disputes with Fox’s regional sports channels.

Fox and FSN Ohio officials have contended that those conditions only mandate binding arbitration for regional sports channels when an agreement has expired or involves a first-time distributor, not for disputes regarding existing deals.

Now, Fox and FSN Ohio are asking the Federal Communications Commission to scrap the arbitrator’s award. Otherwise, it could open other existing contracts to challenge.

With News Corp. selling its DirecTV stake to Liberty Media, it’s murky if the Massillon case will have broad applications going forward. Small operators have asked the FCC to impose the Fox-Hughes conditions even after the transaction. — Linda Moss

Comcast Hit With 'Crazy Fast’ Lawsuit

An Internet-service provider knows no wrath like a bandwidth-lover scorned. San Francisco-area Comcast subscriber Jon Hart filed a suit Nov. 13 claiming the operator “intentionally and severely” impedes peer-to-peer file-sharing applications. Hart’s suit — which seeks class-action status — alleged that while Comcast advertises “unfettered access to all the Internet has to offer” and downloads at “crazy-fast speeds,” the company slows file-sharing programs “to a mere crawl.” Comcast declined comment. — Todd Spangler

Cuban Wins In Court, But Not on Television

El Segundo, Calif. — Mark Cuban may have been eliminated from Dancing with the Stars, but he also won big last week.

His HDNet — featuring the likes of Dan Rather news reports and Rick Steves travel reports — got a temporary restraining order that bars DirecTV from moving the service off its most widely distributed HDTV package.

For now, DirecTV can’t move HDNet and its sister service, HDNet Movies to a new mini-pay tier of HD-only channels, priced at $4.99 a month. Currently, Cuban’s two HD networks are offered as part of DirecTV main HDTV package, for 9.99 a month A court hearing is set for Dec. 7.

Tennessee City Going Out of Cable Business

Covington, Tenn. — City officials here plan to be out of the cable business in 2008.

The city’s aldermen agreed to a sale of its municipal cable operation on Nov. 6, but the transaction needs to be approved by a public vote before the community can complete a sale of the cable plant to Comcast.

Covington Cable was one of the state’s first municipally run operations when it launched in 2002. Today, it serves 2,600 customers in Covington and four other communities in Tipton County near Memphis.

Covington’s residents will have to approve the Comcast deal by a majority vote, in a polling procedure that will last from Dec. 7 to Dec. 27.

That 'Dog’ Could Hunt Again on A&E

New York — A&E Network suspended production of its popular reality show, Dog the Bounty Hunter, after its star was caught — during a private phone conversation — uttering the N-word about his son’s girlfriend.

But that was at Halloween. As Thanksgiving approaches, it’s clear Duane “Dog” Chapman could get a new lease on life.

A&E president and CEO Abbe Raven told Multichannel News editor in chief Tom Steinert-Threlkeld last week, “We’ve looked at what the American public is saying, we’re looking at viewer response and we’re considering all of the possibilities.” Which, presumably, includes the possibility of a return to the A&E schedule.

The full interview is at www.multichannel.com/radio.