WGA STRIKE CENTRAL DAY 12
A report by Magna Global predicts if the strike continues through the end of May, the primetime audience decline will average 9% per month. Theoretically, a 9% decline in viewership also means a 9% decline in ad revenue. Since broadcast network ad spend totaled 8.8 billion last spring, a 9% loss would be around 800 million. Nonetheless, viewers are already leaving primetime shows for cable, online viewing and other things like gaming. Viewership in spring 2007 averaged 37.6 million a week, down from 40.3 million in spring 2006.
