• GlobeandMail.com, Monday, November 26, 2007 12 PM

The impact of the Hollywood writers' strike is still minimal, with a few late-night talk shows in reruns while the networks keep prime-time intact with comedies and dramas that were ready before the whole thing began. But that is about to change, as advertisers and TV networks here and in Canada begin preparing for the possibility that the impasse could drag on into next year. By January, there will be no more fresh episodes of top-rated shows, and advertisers are ready to seek compensation for the lower ratings that will result as the networks are forced into reruns.

"I think it's going to be quite ugly for all of us, because we have to go back--we have to reforecast the entire schedule against every single bloody demographic," says Sunni Boot, president of Zenith Optimedia, a media buyer in Toronto that buys commercial time for several top brands. She adds that companies are scrambling to draw up new plans, and are moving ads into other shows, cable networks and the Internet. "I tell you, I plan to drink heavily over the Christmas period," she says. "Because it's a nightmare, really. We have to do everything all over again." A similar strike in 1988 lasted for 22 weeks and cut prime-time ratings in the U.S. by 10 percent.

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