From KCRW in Santa Monica and KCRW.com.

I'm Kim Masters, and this is The Business.

This week on the business, does Jay Leno's move to 10 p.m.

Mean the death of the hour-long drama on broadcast TV, plus walking the

red carpet at the Streamy Awards, the Oscars for Web TV. Stay close. It's the business from

KCRW. I'm joined in the studio by the business producer Matt Holesman. And I guess we should probably start off today with a story that you wrote for The Daily Beast

that's been picked up all over about star salaries.

It was about how the studios, who have promised for years to cut star salaries, are now actually doing it.

And the one example is the initial offer to Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke to be in Iron Man 2,

which, you know, big franchise picture. Marvel Studios came in with a $250,000 offer, which is pretty

low for two people with recognizable names. Now I know what you're going to say.

These people, when have they opened a movie?

Yes. And the answer is, I don't think they have. But, you know, you've heard of them. And in the old days, I think the studios would have anted up maybe seven figures for somebody that you've heard of. But now the studios are hacking away. The agents and talent representatives that I talk to admit, they're pretty

much powerless to bargain because the studios will come in. They'll say, this is our offer.

It's less than what you've made by half or more. And if you don't like it, we will move on

to the next person. We might even tell you who that next person is, but we will not bargain

with you.

So the global economic meltdown has finally empowered the studios to do something

that they needed to do for the last 15 years?

Yes, the meltdown has accelerated the disintegration of the model where, you know,

DVD sales have softened and people are looking at things online and wireless and this

and that.

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