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Final talks to halt US TV strike

04/11/2007

Unions representing Hollywood studios and writers are engaged in last-ditch talks to avoid a strike that would halt the shooting of television shows.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) threatened to strike on Monday if its demands for improved pay for writers were not met. Its rival, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television (AMTP), is unwilling to pay writers greater royalties for DVD sales and increased revenue from new media.

If crucial talks being held today fail to reach an agreement on the apportioning of profits writers will refuse to pen scripts for television shows which would result in them being unable to film new shows. Daily talk shows such as the Tonight Show hosted by Jay Leno and the Late Show by David Letterman are most likely to be affected.

Other popular shows such as Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives could resort to airing repeats if new scripts are not available.

Today's talks have been called by the federal mediation and conciliation service which seeks to broker an agreement between the two sides. While both sides have insisted that they do not want a strike they also state that they are entitled to income generated from new revenue streams.

A flyer prepared by the association representing writers stated: "The studios and networks make billions from the content we create. All we want is our fair share. They have refused. We don't want to strike, but we must defend the standards of our profession. We ask for your understanding and your support."

The president of the union representing television studios, Nick Counter, disagreed with the writers' calls for increased pay and called the strike action "precipitous and irresponsible".

He told trade magazine the Hollywood Reporter: "Instead of working toward solutions that would give the industry the flexibility it needs to meet today's business challenges, the WGA leadership continues to pursue numerous unreasonable proposals that would result in astronomical and unjustified increases in our costs, further restrict our ability to produce, promote and market TV series and films, and prohibit us from experimenting with programming and business models in new media."