Next target: Viacom
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Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone has been quoted in the press as saying that his Paramount studios and CBS network can withstand the Hollywood writers strike, which is now into its second week. That likely was enough to prompt the picketing writers to turn their attention to Viacom.
On Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m., members of the Writers Guild of America East plan to picket for four hours outside Viacom’s corporate offices in the heart of New York City’s Times Square on Broadway. Some of the leading screen and TV writers will be among the picketers, say organizers. The writers work on TV sitcoms, prime-time dramas, daytime soap operas, late night television talk shows and movies.
Redstone has been quoted in news stories as saying that shows like ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ can do well in reruns and that his studio has movie scripts stockpiled to last well into next year.
-- Robert W. Welkos