Season Pass-Writers Strike help?

I am actually quite surprised that this issue has not been discussed more. I am in the same situation having bought numerous season passes to TV shows that have been halted due to the WGA strike. Has there been a statement released by Apple in regards to this? Will we get our money's worth or are were just out of luck?

I have been googling this question for a few weeks and been surprised that there has not been any grassroot demand for refunds.

I posted something on an itunes tv show page just to see if I could stir up some interest, but everybody seems complacent.

Oh, well. But I really think it is time for an official statement.

susana.

I got an email from Apple at the beginning of the strike saying basically "We know you bought a multi-pass for The Colbert Report, but there's strike on. When The Colbert Report starts up again, you'll get more episodes." Since The Colbert Report starts up again next week, I'm doing good.

Now if Apple would just give me back my money for the season pass I bought for an NBC-owned show that I only got half the episodes of. 😟

I too hold several season passes. Would be nice to get a refund if the remaining eposiode will not be shown due to the strike!

When you purchased the season tickets your agreement clearly stated that if episodes or shows were not available for some reason beyond Apple's control that Apple was under no obligation to provide a partial or full refund. A fee has already been paid to the producers by Apple and you are now asking Apple to bite the bullet and pay you for the results of the Writer's strike. The real culprit here are the writers who went out on strike. Perhaps you should contact the Writer's Union.

Tim...

OS2Guy wrote:
... A fee has already been paid to the producers by Apple and you are now asking Apple to bite the bullet and pay you for the results of the Writer's strike. The real culprit here are the writers who went out on strike. Perhaps you should contact the Writer's Union.

Or you could contact the producers. They're as much a party to this fiasco as the writers.

I don't think anyone would expect Apple to bite the bullet here, but I would hope they had the balls and intelligence to go to bat for their customers and get the money back from the producers.

Perhaps they tried. No company sits on their hands when something like this happens, but there are things that happen between companies we will find out only in apple confidential 3.0.

{quote:title=OS2Guy wrote:}The real culprit here are the writers who went out on strike. Perhaps you should contact the Writer's Union.{quote}

Well... considering that writers currently make a whopping Zero (0) cents on every download the networks sell on iTunes, I doubt you'll get much sympathy from a call to the WGA.

You might want to lodge your complaint with the AMPTP instead. They have decided to walk away from negotiations in early December and have refused to return since. The writers are asking for residuals for internet sales. Right now, when Networks sell episodes (or films) online, writers do not get ANYTHING from that sale.

Movie and Television Writers' contracts were built not unlike novelists (who make royalties). Royalties make up about 15% of the sale of a book. For WGA writers, you're looking more at 2.4% of a rerun sale, if that. Those are called "residuals".

On DVD sales, WGA writers make approximate four (4) cents on every sale. That's across a team, in the case of television writers. The current proposal the WGA made (which was turned down by AMPTP) was for eight (8) cents.

As for the WGA's demand for internet profits, the writers only want their share of profits. SOMETHING for their work, rather than nothing at all. The Networks and Producers are trying to claim that the Internet is an "unproven market" and that internet sales are a "marketing expense" for them.

So -- all I'm saying is -- before you go blaming the writers over this? You might want to get informed.

Elly
Mac user since the old Mac Plus
WGAe Strike Captain

It seems to me that iTunes Store should be asking for my money back from the producers, since they can't supply the episodes. They aren't entitled to my money if they can't deliver the goods for which I paid. They should curb their "above the line" costs and give their writers a fair deal . If Apple doesn't budge on this issue I'm afraid my brief foray into purchasing TV shows on iTunes is over. I guess it's back to books and podcasts.

Unless a show is canceled and no more episodes come out, when seasons resume then downloads will be available again.

Based on that, season passes for non-canceled shows are still good, there is just nothing available to download right now.

Okay...The Colbert Report started up again last night. However, looking on iTunes this morning, I see that Colbert and the Daily Show aren't even listed on Comedy Central's page. What's up with that?

I noticed that thing too. There's a big banner under TV Shows/Comedy for a New episode of Colbert, but when you get into the page, it says "No more episodes available due to the writer's strike". Same thing with The Daily Show (Without the banner, that is).
And my season passes for both shows are getting an auto-renewal tomorrow... sigh.

AGREED!!!! I shelled out $39.99 for HALF a season of NCIS!!!!!

iTunes could simply credit my account & I would be happy. If it is carrying over to next year, does that mean I will get the first half of next season???

Either way, that was the first AND LAST time I ever get a season pass. You save a little bit of money.....but considering how much I just lost on NCIS...IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!!

I will contact iTunes Store Customer Support for a season pass reimbursement when the networks or studios announce that any of the TV Show season has prematurely ended.

Right now, can't really do much. Thanks to the writers' strike.

I would imagine that since the whole strike issue is over internet sales, that even though there are episodes airing on TV, we are not going to see any colbert or daily show on itunes for a while. The contract negotiations to get the shows back on the air are very tenuous and I doubt the producers or the writers have come to an agreement to get internet sales back up. I'm upset because I got a week of episodes before the strike happened. Now to hear that I might not get episodes or a refund? That's not right and I think there might be a class action lawsuit against either the producers or itunes. I think the producers are in the wrong here, but I don't know the legalities of a lawsuit against them when it is itunes that we purchased from.