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PORTSIDE CULTURE
THERE WERE A LOT FEWER TELEVISION WRITING JOBS LAST SEASON, ACCORDING
TO WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA REPORT
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Mary Kate Carr
April 11, 2025
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_ There were 1,319 fewer jobs in TV writing in the 2023-24 season. _
, Screenshot: Hulu/YouTube
A common refrain in Hollywood after the upheaval of the writers and
actors strikes was “Survive ’til 25.” But according to a new
report from the Writers Guild of America, a lot of television writer
positions _haven’t_ survived the ongoing contraction of the
entertainment industry. Per
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Hollywood Reporter_
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there were 1,819 television writing jobs in the 2023-24 television
season, a 42 percent decline from the 2022-23 season.
There were 37 percent fewer WGA-covered episodic series aired in the
shortened 2023-24 TV season, which the WGA blamed on “studios’
prolonged unwillingness to negotiate a fair deal.” (In film, the
number of screenwriters working is also down 15 percent, per _THR_.)
Positions at the level of co-executive producer and higher declined 40
percent from the 2022-23; mid-level jobs (co-producer through
consulting/supervising producer) declined 42 percent; and low-level
jobs (staff writer, story editor, executive story editor) declined 46
percent. In total, there were 1,319 fewer jobs in TV writing compared
to the previous season.
That the highest level of TV writing (EP/showrunners) saw the biggest
job losses of that number (642) speaks to an ongoing issue in the
industry, wherein lower level writers don’t get the same amount of
mentorship and training to rise up to that highest level themselves.
This was an issue raised during the strikes
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because the streaming model disrupted how showrunners used to work
their way up the ladder. With smaller writers rooms that begin and end
before shooting starts, newer writers get fewer chances to write
episodes and go to set to see them into production under the wing of a
showrunner or EP. And with fewer showrunners and EPs, who is going to
be doing the teaching?
“With an industry in transition — cable TV subscriptions and cable
programming declining, a massive run-up and then pullback in streaming
series as Wall Street demands quicker streaming platform profits—
the number of TV jobs has declined,” the WGA report reads.
“Writing careers have always been difficult to access and sustain,
but the contraction has made it especially challenging. We are all
subject to the decisions of the companies that control this industry,
who have pulled back spending on content based on the demands of Wall
Street. Compounding that, the current administration seems intent on
causing economic chaos and undermining our democracy.”
The writing has been on the wall for a while: We’re past the peak of
Peak TV (a term that originally referred to the quantity, not the
quality of programming). The past three years have seen fewer shows
on the air
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more concerns about how difficult it is to get a job
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the industry. While concessions gained in the strikes were meant to
alleviate some of the stress, there’s only so much the WGA can do
about the bubble bursting.
* television
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* Writers Guild of America
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* Hollywood
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* scripted television
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