Poll: Three months into the actors’ strike, Americans still side with guild members
As the Hollywood writers’ strike has come to a close and the actors’ walkout rages on, the American public continues to favor unions over studios, networks and streamers, a new poll for the Los Angeles Times finds.
The survey results arrived shortly before talks between the performers’ guild, SAGAFTRA, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers soured because of a dispute over how actors should be compensated from streaming. The latest wrinkle in negotiations has threatened to prolong the strike — along with its adverse effects on workers, the entertainment industry and the California economy — even further.
Three months into the SAG-AFTRA strike, 34% of Americans said they sided with actors in a survey conducted earlier this month for The Times by Leger, a Canada-based polling firm with experience in U.S. surveys. That number is similar to the 38% of respondents who said they supported striking actors and writers in a late-July poll conducted by Leger for The Times.
Meanwhile, support among the American public for the studios has stayed low and steady at 7%, while 29% of respondents said they sympathized with both sides equally. Thirty percent didn’t take a position.
The poll also asked Americans about the effects of the writers’ strike and their thoughts about its end. The Writers Guild of America and the AMPTP, the group that represents studios in contract negotiations, came to a resolution in late September after 148 days on the picket lines.
The survey asked if and how Americans’ viewing habits had shifted since the Hollywood strikes brought the industry to a near standstill. Because the work stoppages have slowed production and hampered studios’ promotional campaigns, there has been a marked decrease in new scripted programming and major movie releases.
About 7 in 10 Americans said they noticed the absence of new programming to at least some extent, although only about 1 in 4 said they noticed a lot.