Broadcasters are behaving much the same way publishers are these days. They are treating their business as a sunset industry: maximize profits now and cash out, because there is no future. If they win and the writers get nothing, they make more money. If a long strike kills off scripted television shows, along with those pesky expensive writers and actors, they make more money; they'll just fill the airwaves with cheap game shows and reality shows. The model isn't sustainable in the long run, but they don't care.