Your favorite TV shows may not make it if Hollywood writers go on strike tomorrow.

The writers are suffering from reduced job opportunities and the loss of income due to the industry’s shift from traditional broadcast and cable programming to streaming services. This has resulted in lower wages and worse working conditions for series writers at all levels.

The Writers Guild of America voted 98% in favor of striking if no new deal is reached before their current contract expires. The talks are at a stalemate, and a strike could have immediate effects on shows such as Saturday Night Live and daytime soap operas, and estimates suggest it could last for months. The union is negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, which represents major players like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix.

Management appears unlikely to give the union the improvements it says its members need for a living wage, and there is an incentive to let the strike drag on.

The strike could have widespread implications for the industry and the economies of Southern California and New York City, with an estimated 20,000 workers working on as many as 600 productions who could be out of work if the writers shut down production.

The writers are arguing that their contracts need to factor in the entertainment industry’s shift to streaming and that they need residuals to provide much-needed money for writers.

Even if the union resolves the issues it has raised, the question of “Can this really be a career for me?” will still hang over most writers, post-strike.

In the meantime, the industry is engaged in belt-tightening, and media companies are laying people off, reevaluating their investment in streaming, and scrutinizing their more mature revenue streams.

YNaija