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NBCU and Bravo: ‘Broader Agenda’ in ‘Shahs of Sunset’ Strike?

Sep 17, 2014  •  Post A Comment

One week into a strike by crew members on the Bravo reality series “Shahs of Sunset,” no one is talking, Dominic Patten reports on Deadline.com, and the cable network and parent NBCUniversal appear to be drawing a line in the sand.

Picket lines are reportedly in place at the L.A. offices of show producer Ryan Seacrest Productions — even though the company announced Sept. 7 that it had “every intention of engaging in a discussion as soon as possible.” Members of the postproduction crew walked off the job, and the Motion Picture Editors Guild is fighting for a union contract for those crew members.

“In stark contrast to the quick deal Mark Burnett’s ‘Survivor’ reached with the guild after a similar strike last month, Bravo and NBCU decided last week to push back the Season 4 debut of ‘Shahs’ to take any hard deadline off the table,” Patten writes.

Insiders are saying delays in talks are not coming from Seacrest’s company, but from “further up the food chain,” Patten notes.

The report quotes one of those insiders saying: “NBCU and Bravo are calling the shots and they have a much broader agenda than this show,”

A second source adds: “The reality is NBCUniversal has made a tactical decision to push back against the unionization of unscripted shows. How far and long they are willing to go is uncertain right now.”

Shahs of Sunset - Season 2

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