As unfortunate as it may be that the WGA strike is going to cause this 2008 Awards Season to be quite unorthodox as the WGA is set to picket the Golden Globes and the Oscars and the Screen Actors Guild has said they will not be crossing picket lines, it comes as quite the shocker that NBC still plans on airing the 2008 Golden Globe Awards on January 13th.
NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks told the LA Times, “We are prepared to move forward with the telecast on Jan. 13.”
Being prepared is one thing, but they are prepared to broadcast an empty room. One good thing that could come out of this is that the RopeofSilicon Live Diary would be a go and Laremy could have a field day describing the action on screen. The red carpet interviews would be epic!
Two top NBC executives who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation told the LA Times that the HFPA, along with Dick Clark Productions, is contractually bound to provide the Golden Globe event to NBC for a national televised broadcast. Sorry, but that sounds like NBC saying, “Hey we have a chance to humiliate them and we are going to take it.” Seriously, what benefit is there to showing a room full of empty seats other than to embarass the HFPA? People will tune in and Laremy will be the only one still watching. Nielsen ratings will show 1 viewer, not impressive.
NBC pays $5 million a year for the license to the broadcast, which has proved to be a lucrative deal in the past, but what sense does it make to show an award show if the folks winning the awards won’t be there?
It appears the WGA is being quite stingy in this case as Dick Clark Productions agreed to accept the same deal as Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, but that is their right. They obviously see this as a major opportunity and have elected to take it. One can only wonder if this is going to carryover into February and affect RopeofSilicon’s much beloved Oscar night. Let’s hope not because I freaking love covering the Oscars.
