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At the same time, pay TV has slowed its decline. While pay TV has experienced a significant drop in paid subscribers, millions of folks continue to rely on it for specific shows, sports and news To retain viewership and profits, studios and networks have shifted from scripted shows to less-expensive unscripted reality, game and competition/contest programming. Home entertainment has changed dramatically with the rapid growth of streaming services that initially focused on constantly growing their subscriber numbers to show Wall Street they were growing despite a constant flow of red ink. The studio/network reinvention to tech-focused organizations marked a change in the long-standing usage residuals model creators, producers, writers and actors (and studios) had used for years to provide professionals with long-term residual income. With an estimated 85 percent of US households having at least one video streaming subscription, the market is expected to reach $825B this year, according to PwC. At the same time, the industry faces consolidation as streamers shift their attention to ARPU (average revenue per user), churn and profitability. That means fees will go up for SVOD and they’ll “work” to guide you to their ad-supported service. Churn? There’s not a d*** thing they can do about it. It’s stuck at 35 percent for the time being. The Hollywood executive pay (set by Wall Street/shareholders) mirrored that of corporate America with wages rising to about 399-to-1, according to recent EPI (economic policy institute) reports. Their earnings were slightly higher than those of the average Hollywood writer, which remained virtually flat. Median pay for the 11,500 union member screenwriters dropped 14 percent when adjusted for inflation over the past five years. Studios have also pressed to have fewer writers involved in each project. In addition to pay increases, WGA wanted to establish guardrails on the use of AI technology, which was strongly being considered by industry executives and managers around the world. At almost the same time, the 171,000 plus actors were seeking a realignment of their residual pay that would pave the way for a more reliable income for members and a stronger professional safety net. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for an actor last year was $27.73 per hour. Most are hired for day work and seldom work a 40-hour week throughout the year.