Comments on: Eisner's advice to striking writers: Blame Steve Jobs, not the studios

At the Media & Money conference, the former Disney exec calls the Writer's Guild of America strike "stupid" and suggests that it's the technology companies, not the studios, who are to blame.

[Draxon]

Not Just abnout internet

Wow CNET Misses the boat again and completely fails to mention the strike is not just about the internet. The strike is mainly about DVD sales (Which by the way the writers have been getting ripped off since they signed the VHS distrobution deal in 1986).

So the media corperations have been making houndreds of millions of dollars on DVD sales and not giving the writers their fair share because in 1986 when they signed the VHS distrobution deal it was a tiny market so it wasn't a big deal.

Now we can bring up the internet (its amazing what some context will do isn't it?) Sure the internet like VHS distrobution of tv shows in 1986 is currently a small pie, but it will not stay that way. If the pie is so small why arn't the media companies willing to give up a % of online profits? after all 2% of nothing is still nothing. The media companies will fight that tooth and nail because they know it will make it harder for them to take advantage of writers for another 20 years.

disclaimer: I am not a write, no accociated with anyone who is in WGA. but as a tv viewer I am effect by this strike so (unlike CNET) I did some research.

[riodejaneiro2007]

Eisner needs to...

sit his old tired a** down.

[benjwah]

Cavuto, Eisner and Jobs

Cavuto: I'm surprised he can say anything with all those things in his mouth. Perhaps he was talking out of another orifice, although I'm farely sure he has that one filled up too. He's like a pig on satan's spit.
Eisner: Well, he's a producer, the writers are striking against HIM and his type. And the reason Prom Queen didn't make a profit is because it sucked.
Jobs: He is a genius. Anyone who can screw both his suppliers and his customers and come out looking like a hero is a bona fide genius.

[Al E. Gator]

go get em benjwah

Cheaply produced, quality free programming is only profitable after
Mr. Eisner has been paid his half a billion$ for what?... i hope the
writers can generate enough solidarity in the news divisions of
these media giants so that one day 'joe public" will know what
crock these greedy managers are asking from their laborers...

I'm expecting all TV to be written in Spanish by former strawberry
pickers within the week...

[Al E. Gator]

Delusional

Mr. Eisner is either crazy or just plain evil.... It's dirtbags like him
who suck the quality out of creative careers by demanding ever
increasing profit to fund the outrageous salaries he has deemed
himself worth.... while squeezing the people who actually do the
work he profits from he has the nerve to blame the interweb...

Fact is...it's greedy bastards like Mr. Eisner who are dragging
this country into the crapper... his compensation at Disney
while ABC had locked out labor due to supposed cost issues was
criminal...

I just stopped buying the product (watching TV) after the telco
act of 96 gave the fat cats the pie...

[JeffH2975]

Oh please

Okay.. Here's the deal Apple pays for the hosting of the iTunes service, they developed it, as well as having a huge part in developing digital media codecs and utilizing the medium of the internet as a way to leverage programs and songs to people who probably never before would watch them because they can't get cable or their television reception is horrible. Yet these multi-million dollar executives are carrying on and whining because they're too cheap to take the cut out of their own pockets (did I previously mention their multi-million dollar salaries, not to mention bonuses) so that the people that actually make them famous and wealthy(and everyone else in hollywood for that matter).

So go ahead and blame Apple for every problem in the entertainment industry, maybe the problem with this is like the problem with our government, the rich suits just need to be hung out to dry from time to time.

[agitatr]

RE:Oh please

"this is like the problem with our government, the rich suits just need to be hung out to dry from time to time."

Or just hung, and like every good capitalist they will be the first in line to sell you the rope to hang them with.

[oxtail01]

taking money from phantom profits?

Eisner should know. He took millions from Disney while the Company suffered profit-wise. For this arrogant, egotistical, and unethical money grabbing jerk to mouth off on people who actually work hard to maintain a decent standard of living is one of the most hypocritical things I've seen.

[c.Lake]

Try drop Eisner's Salary to a NORMAL level

Now, you'll have more than enough money to pay the writers. Nice
finger pointing, you greedy-*******.

[shamanicat]

Self-interested. Period.

Let's see; first he underwrites a legal team to deliver a 75 year
extension of copyright law on behalf of producer/owners, at the
expense of four generations of creators and audiences.

Then he uses the DMCA to build yet another producer/owner
business on the backs of creators, using online longform
copyright infringement to drive traffic.

And now he calls the writers idiots, for having the foresight not
to get screwed yet again by producer/owners?

It's just business. Just a back room player, looking for every
edge. And screw the creatives, they should be grateful for the
scraps the owners scatter under the table.

So back to work, writers. Your families need you to bring home
an ever-shrinking paycheck.

[digitalshaman]

PUH - LEEZ blame the folks whose name is on yer checks!!

what an absurdly self-interested and twisted way to explain a
problem which is about people trying to make a living wage!!

gee, it must be that ipod maker dude -- nah it's that magical
kngdom self-promoter

you cant PAY for more hypocritical nonsense ... how about
figuring out who contributes and who doesn;t and make a
relevancy scale from what that looks like ...

ive posted this before but cheap bandwidth, hard work, and a
bunch of luck is what you need toi succeed -- aint nothing
pleasant when they welcome you to the machine

welcome to true free agency ...

[[digitalis]]

[hounddoglgs]

Huh???

What a moron. Is it just me, our do Eisner's comments not make any sense?

[shanedr]

Big business just doesn't get it!

Eisner's statements reveal just how remote top exec's have become removed from reality. The reason profits are down is because the music and movie industries are being affected by consumers that for the first time can affect profits beyond their historic buy or don't buy capability.

When VHS tapes came out the movie industry screamed "protect our profits". But when they stopped fighting "pay for movies" and reduced prices their profits soared. Then came CD's and DVD's dramatically reducing their costs; did they reduce prices according? No, they increased prices because it was a new media.
Now computers are making it even cheaper to distribute music and movies. But rather than jumping on the opportunity and reducing prices to dramatically increase sales, they scream are profits are down. When prices are high, smuggling is high, when prices are low, smuggling stops; simply because it's no longer economically viable to break the law.
Eventually the entertainment industry will cooperate with the cheap, quick and easy distribution of their products and their profits will again soar.
Until then their industry will suffer until they, kicking and screaming, learn from history.

[mrwatkins83]

Poor Steve Jobs...

You can only be the rebel so many times before you've completely isolated your company and its products from mainstream media and technology producers.

Sure, Apple is at the cutting edge now, but that won't last forever, and they'll have no platform for recovery once they've burned all their bridges to the ground.