About a month ago, the writer's strike was announced. I knew it wouldn't affect me immediately; I am about 3-4 weeks behind in my television viewing anyway. Thanks to my trusty DVR, I don't have to worry about when my (very few) television shows come on; they are there when I have time to enjoy them.

The first round of viewers to be affected was late night talk show viewers. I can assure you, I am not in this category. Most of the time I am sound asleep before they even begin, 10 p.m. is my "late night".  I do enjoy watching some shows on a regular basis, but I don't schedule my life around the television.

The news of the strike is all over the Internet, and yesterday I saw some shows are going into re-runs, they don't have any more episodes completed. Some networks are supplementing using new and old holiday shows. Some of the newer shows won't survive the strike. I still have a 3-4 week backlog, so I should be able to keep watching my regular shows through the New Year. I also started watching some shows a few seasons after they started, so I wouldn't mind a time warp back to the beginning.

One thing that did catch my eye is the observation that people have too many choices in other media, and viewers may not go back to their "regular programming" if the strike lasts too long. Entire genres may be lost, such as daytime soap operas, who still haven't regained viewers lost as a result of the OJ Simpson trial, 12 years ago. What will those viewers do?

People will stay on the Internet, playing video games, watching movies, reading books. Isn't that what most people do anyway? Television is now just a small part of the "new" media most households have access to.

If the strike continues, will you be affected? How long would it have to last before it really made you change your viewing behavior?