Media giant Viacom admits the Internet is booming (and boosting sales), but the Oscars are going down fast and Warners would rather lay off a thousand people than admit they should pay fair wages, all in tonight's installment of "Days of Our Strike."

Despite the AMPTP's insistence that the Internet's "new media" is untested and cannot be put into a coherent (or profitable) business model yet, member Viacom announced Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show that they've made deals to broadcast content on five online video services, as well as Comcast's broadband site.

In the words of Greg Clayman, MTV Networks executive VP of digital distribution, "We're eager to get our content out there.  Our fans are already there."

Viacom CEO Phillippe Dauman was more circumspect about saying the same thing.  "We're at a phase of the development of the Internet, when we are seeing the accumulation of a lot of incremental changes that makes it easier for consumers and users to navigate information and entertainment online."

Early tests by the media giant via clips and episode downloads are showing improved television ratings for featured series, something long claimed by media-saavy fans but only recently backed by hard evidence.  Clearly, the insistence by Viacom and its brethren about the usefulness of online content and downloads is so much smokescreen even as they're stuffing cash into their pockets.

In other strike-related news, the biggest night in Hollywood may be called off.  With just a month and a half to go before the 80th Annual Academy Awards go live, not a single word has been written for the telecast, because the people who are normally paid to do that sort of thing are striking. 

Bruce Davis, the executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said, "The major change from last year is that in a normal year, we'd have assembled a staff of writers, and they would have been working on the show for more than a month."  In short, they're on a deadline, and about to miss it.

Comedy Central personality Jon Stewart, who returned to work earlier this week for his politcal/talk show satire series The Daily Show minus the writing staff, is scheduled to host the Oscars this year, but he hasn't written a word yet, nor has he brought together any writers to do so.  The Academy has also said that should Stewart choose to withdraw, they don't have a backup host in the wings.  The question revolves around whetehr or not the WGA will grant the Academy a waiver for the evening, as it has for the Screen Actors Guild's awards.

And among all of this upheaval, more Tinseltown employees are looking at the prospect of pink slips.  Warners distributed legally-mandated 60-day notices on November 12th that possibly a thousand workers could be terminated during the strike.  The sixty days ends this Friday, after which the door is wide open.  Warner Brothers HR reps were quick to point out that simply because the slips were sent out, that does not mean people are definitely losing their jobs on Friday, simply that they could.

Spokesperson Stacey Hoppe said, "Due to the ongoing WGA work stoppage, some studio divisions will have to lay off employees. We regret the impact this will have on our employees, and we hope to bring them back to work once the WGA strike ends."

This could actually be a brilliant move on the part of the studios.  Currently, all of Hollywood is backing the writers.  The directors and actors are about to be looking for new deals when their contract expires, and everyone knows that as the WGA gets, so with the DGA and SAG.  But once the layoffs are in full swing across the studios, the workers who need their paychecks to survive are going to stop talking about fair compensation and start demanding that both sides reach a deal already, no matter what the terms.

Firefox News continues to pledge its support of the WGA.  The idea of the Internet as a viable medium for product growth is one of the foundations of our website's existence.  The AMPTP's denial of that idea with one hand even as they reap the rewards with the other is simply further proof of their lack of good faith and fair practices, and we will not let that pass unremarked.