From KCRW in Santa Monica, I'm Matt Holesman, sitting in for Claudeau-Bradessa Ackner, and this is The Business.

So you still want to do the show business, and you think that you got what it takes.

I mean, you really got a rap and be all at, but prepare yourself for the breaks.

Check it out.

This week on the business, the writer's strike will affect everyone in Hollywood in the long run,

but broadcast television is already feeling the effects, and it's likely to change TV forever.

Today, we talk to two former network heads about what the strike means to you and your favorite shows now and in the future.

Stick around. It's The Business from NPR.

Thank you. Stick around. It's The Business from NPR. The movie business is somewhat insulated from the immediate effect of the writer's strike,

since films for next year are more or less on their way to being in the can.

Though without Jay and Dave and Conan, the studios have lost one of their main places for free promotion.

For television, aside from the immediate disappearances of the late-night talkers, the common

wisdom was that the real effects of the strike wouldn't be felt until around January when the scripted

shows ran out of episodes. But many of the showrunners, those producer-writer hybrids, have walked

off the set with their writers, and that means those shows will go black sooner than expected.

For instance, Variety reports that the new adventures of old Christine and Back to You probably

won't be back to you until the writers are back at their computers. In the first part of today's show, we're going to talk about the strike, how the networks are

preparing to survive it, and which network is in the best position to handle it long term.

Later in the show, we'll talk about the changes to TV that were underway well before the strike.

Our host, Claude Bradessor Ackner, talked to Dean Valentine, who was head of the now-defunct UPN network in the late 90s.

Jordan Levin joined the now-defunct WB network before its 1995 launch and rose through the programming ranks to become president.

Dean Valentine, Jordan Levin, welcome to the business. Welcome back, I should say. Thank you. Always a pleasure to be here. We're in the midst of this Hollywood writer's strike. Are we

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