Writers strike is good news for TV newsmagazines
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NEW YORK -- For James Goldston, executive producer of ‘Nightline,’ the prospect of a prolonged writers strike that paralyzes much of the television industry offers an awkward upside.
The longer a work stoppage keeps ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’ and ‘Late Show With David Letterman’ in repeats, the better shot the ABC late-night newsmagazine -- which is remaining live -- has at drawing more viewers.
Indeed, ‘Nightline,’ which introduced a new anchor team two years ago, has already enjoyed an immediate lift. During the first week of the writers strike, the usually third-place program drew the largest number of households, according to early Nielsen data of 56 metered markets. The newsmagazine pulled an average of 2.8 million households, while Letterman had 2.7 million and Leno had 2.6 million.
‘We take no pleasure in there being a strike whatsoever,’ Goldston said. ‘It’s no good for anybody. What’s also true in the odd circumstance this presents us with is that it is an opportunity of sorts for people who have maybe not sampled the new ‘Nightline’ or who are looking around for alternatives to come to the show.’
--Matea Gold