The writers strike is over, but ...

There is no question that network television programming was hit hardest by the just ended writers strike. In an interesting story in today's Los Angeles Times, writer Dawn C. Chmielewski recalled that during the strike of 1988, viewers sick of reruns quickly discovered the comedy "Married With Children" on a the then upstart Fox Network.

But the most interesting paragraph of this story was what the alternatives were in 2008:

"During the writers strike, people watched a record number of online videos. Teens spent more time primping their pages on social networking websites such as MySpace. Online game-playing surged. Cable networks attracted more channel surfers. And even DVD sales, which had been in slow decline, ticked up in January."

That's not to say all those things are directly attributable to the strike but it does say a lot about the additional fracturing of the television audience. And the story does predict popular TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "House" will not have as many viewers after the strike as they did before the strike started.