presumably they'll miss out on DVD sales, itune sales, advertising money from streaming shows and ultimately syndication that only come from scripted shows.

They will still be able to sell the shows they already have in their back catalog, as well as saving the cost of developing new shows, going through pilot season, producing new shows, etc. etc. If this goes on I'm sure we'll just see the studios raiding their back catalog to put more shows out on DVD. Or repackaging the shows already out on DVD with a little extra footage or a few more deleted scenes to get the rabid fans to buy them all over again.

Heck, they could re-shoot old scripts with new casts.

(If I were an evil network executive I would SO be doing that. How cool would that be?)

They've actually done that before Trudy, during one of the previous last strikes.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer with Jason Priestly! As Buffy!

The networks might hurt, even if a studio doesn't.

If this goes on I'm sure we'll just see the studios raiding their back catalog to put more shows out on DVD.

The Inside. The Inside. The Inside.

Yeah. I might finally get Stark Raving Mad on DVD.

ND, back catalog for TV is pretty played out in my opinion. There just isn't that many high profile money-making ones left.

I agree that the big ones are played out but the trick is that it is dirt cheap to release something out of the back catalog. Even moderate sales can turn in good money. There are also no new production costs.

I think several things put the studios in a good bargaining position. Undoubtedly revenues will be lower, but costs will be a lot lower. Publicly they are expecting to come out ahead for at least a year. Yes, in the long run they lose money, but they are assuming the writers cannot hold out down long, and (though they may not care that much ) assume that even fan support will fade. Even if they are bluffing on coming out ahead in the short run, the lower costs will certainly lower their losses. And given how much they have made over the years, they probably can afford a loss. Ultimately I think the big cheeses are out to break the WGA. If they manage that this time around, maybe they will wait until next time around to break the actors, or maybe they will go after them now as long as they are on a roll. In the long run they are aiming for a union free town, or at least a town with completely powerless unions.

I'm seeing the strike really hurt people I care about (writers, crew, and children of everyone tied into the industry), and I'm extremely worried about the impact it is having on my city.

I just hope it is resolved as painlessly as possible as quickly as possible. Count me in the camp that thinks stunts have zero impact on the networks.

There is a reason I avoid doing film and TV work even though I'm based in LA. The studios are just nasty. I have to deal with them for most of my theme park work but at least that is all one step removed and my skillset is pretty specialized.