The Writer’s Strike did more than change the landscape of tv for a few months as we all waited through reality programming for the return of our favorites. It’s changed the way television is made, Variety says.

In profound and permanent ways, the television business has changed since the writers declared pencils down. Network and media agency executives agree that the stoppage was the first line of an entirely new script for the television industry, one which, to borrow entertainment parlance, “reimagines” how TV has been developed, bought and sold for more 50 years.

In my talks about the strike with friends, this is the one thing I noted time and time again. The one thing the strike guaranteed was that television was never going to be the same, but the question remains if the changes are good or bad.

The number of pilots has gone down, and some networks are abandoning the idea altogether. Instead of launching in the fall, networks are now looking at leading out new series year round. But the most dangerous development is the network’s plans to defray costs: more integrated advertising.

“There’s always been a Plexiglas that surrounds the creative community when it comes to talking to the advertising community,” Caraccioli-Davis adds. “That might have flipped with the strike.”

I admit that this wasn’t something I really expected, but I’m not surprised. When the strike started, I made the comment that sure the writer’s only wanted a small percent more of the profits, but nobody seemed to be asking where that percent was coming from. Television producers and networks are going to want to cut into their portion of the profits to distribute that money, so they’ll have to bring it in from somewhere. Apparently these advertising deals are the way they’ll be doing it.

I also wonder about other long reaching effects of the strike. Producers are making an monetary investment in a product, which they expect to see a return on. With the return on an individual property being divided more thinly back to them, I can see a turn to where they’ll only want to greenlight properties that they feel are guaranteed to make their money back. How often will somebody take a chance on a show like Lost or Heroes, that both came in during a period where television science-fiction was not a money maker for mainstream networks. Television already is a business where “more of the same” is a motto, so how much worse is that going to get?

These fears could be completely unfounded. It could be that enough people in the network brass are visionaries and want to see not just money but quality product. But I have to say that I’m not optimistic.