Market Data 
The number of TV writing jobs took a big hit during the 2023-’24 season, according to new statistics released by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
A combination of issues, including the 2023 writers’ strike, led to the downturn. While strike-impacted jobs may come back, the union indicated others may not—which could point to a long-term slowdown.
According to the WGA, TV writing jobs declined 42% from the 2022-’23 season to the 2023’24 season. The latter, of course, was impacted by the strike, which began in May 2023 and didn’t resolve until fall, wiping out four months of work. A subsequent actors’ strike that went into 2024 also affected jobs.
However, other factors were also at play. The Guild noted in its report that the number of original scripted shows on cable has dropped, reflecting viewers’ longstanding move away from traditional television to streaming platforms. As companies’ ratings go down, so does their ad revenue and ability to demand higher deals from cable carriers, impacting the bottom line and the budget for new shows.
There were simply fewer shows for writers to get jobs on. The WGA said there were 37% fewer WGA-covered episodic series during the 2023-’24 season, which again reflects the strike as well as the end of the so-called Peak TV era, when there was both a boom in the number and quality of TV shows reflecting new platform popularity.
Additionally, streaming platforms seem to have rethought their early strategy of spending heavily on content to see what sticks. Many streamers are feeling pressure from Wall Street to reach profitability following years of losses. During earnings calls with investors, CEOs have been careful to outline new plans for profitability that were of less concern a few years ago, as platforms found their footing.
Senior-Level TV Writing Jobs Suffer Big Loss
While TV writers at every level felt the impact of job losses, it seems senior positions took the worst hit. The WGA said almost half of the lost jobs, 642, came in the showrunner and co-executive producer spots.
Mid-level jobs, including supervising and consulting producers as well as co-producers, took the second-biggest hit, down 42%, while low-level jobs like staff writer, story editor and executive story editor had the least—though still a substantial number at 299.
The report noted that there were fewer TV jobs than at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019-2022 season, which resulted in delays and job losses. For example, that year there were 1,332 senior-level jobs, which fell to 952 for 2023-’24.
Jobs did bounce back up across every category following that first COVID year, so there is hope that the strike was a blip that won’t have a lasting effect.
