[ QUOTE ]
"Mourning TV" an op-ed in the NY Times today by Lost co-creator/writer Damon Lindelof.
excerpts:
[ QUOTE ]
My show, “Lost,” has been streamed hundreds of millions of times since it was made available on ABC’s Web site. The downloads require the viewer to first watch an advertisement, from which the network obviously generates some income. The writers of the episodes get nothing. We’re also a hit on iTunes (where shows are sold for $1.99 each). Again, we get nothing.
[...]
I am angry because I am accused of being greedy by studios that are being greedy. I am angry because my greed is fair and reasonable: if money is made off of my product through the Internet, then I am entitled to a small piece. The studios’ greed, on the other hand, is hidden behind cynical, disingenuous claims that they make nothing on the Web — that the streaming and downloading of our shows is purely “promotional.” Seriously?
[...]
But I am willing to hold firm for considerably longer than three months because this is a fight for the livelihoods of a future generation of writers, whose work will never “air,” but instead be streamed, beamed or zapped onto a tiny chip.
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
For all we know, networks might lose money on streaming TV shows because of the bandwidth, with the ads only partially making up for the loss or making it break-even.
And he's "entitled" to whatever the contract that he signed says he's entitled to.