Hollywood film and television writers have gone on strike since Tuesday, sparking a crisis in Hollywood as the entertainment industry grapples with sweeping changes brought about by the global expansion of streaming television, Reuters reported.

The Screenwriters Guild of America (WGA) has gone on strike for the first time in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on pay raises at studios such as Walt Disney and Netflix.

“Their inflexible stance in these negotiations revealed a desire to further devalue the writing profession,” the WGA said in a statement.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney, Netflix and others, said late Monday that it had offered a “generous increase in compensation” in negotiations with the WGA.

The WGA’s 11,500 members have given union leaders the authority to strike starting Tuesday after the current contract expires as the entertainment industry faces a tough economic climate.

Studios are a financial strain

The conglomerates are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming services profitable after pouring billions of dollars into content to attract subscribers.

The last WGA strike in 2007-2008 lasted 100 days. The action cost the California economy an estimated $2.1 billion as production was halted and out-of-work writers, actors and producers cut costs.

The producers said they were prepared to increase their offer of higher wages and residual rights from the previous day, but were “reluctant to do so due to the scale of the other offers which are still under consideration and which the union continues to press for,” the press release said. AMPTP releases,

According to the group, the main concerns were proposals that “would require a company to have a program with a certain number of authors for a certain period of time, whether it is necessary or not.”

In addition to disruptions to streaming, studios are facing declining TV advertising revenue as traditional TV audiences shrink and advertisers move elsewhere. In addition to all this, there is also the threat of recession in the world’s largest economy.

They want higher wages and anti-AI regulations

Writers say they have suffered financially during the streaming boom, in part because of shorter seasons and lower residual payments.

They are demanding higher wages and changes in industry practices that they say force them to work harder for less money.

According to union statistics, half of television writers now work at minimum wage, up from a third in the 2013-2014 season.

Artificial intelligence is another issue on the negotiating table. The WGA wants to protect studios from using artificial intelligence to create new scripts based on writers’ previous work.

Screenwriters also want to make sure they aren’t being asked to rewrite AI-generated script drafts.

Many shows will be canceled, the autumn TV season is also in danger

Late-night shows like “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and “Saturday Night Live,” in which writers create topical jokes, are expected to be pulled immediately.

This means that new episodes will not be available in the traditional time slot on television or on streaming services that make them available the next day.

Soap operas and other daytime shows are likely to be disrupted. In addition, the strike could lead to the postponement of the fall television season.

Writing for fall shows usually begins in May or June.

If the strike drags on, broadcasters will increasingly fill their schedules with unscripted reality shows, news shows and reruns.

Netflix may be shielded from any immediate impact because of its global focus and access to production facilities outside the US.