Talks Break Down Between Writers, Producers

Expect more reruns on late-night TV.

Talks between TV and movie writers and their producers fell apart Friday night, meaning the writers' strike, which began early last month, is likely to continue for some time.

The Writers Guild of America said in a statement Friday that talks broke down after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers rejected the writers' proposal on how they should be compensated when their work is streamed online. The statement said the producers also delivered an "ultimatum" requiring the writers essentially to concede much of their overall proposal on Internet issues.

At the heart of the dispute is how writers are to be compensated for sales of DVDs and when their work appears online.

The group representing the producers issued its own statement, saying it believed its proposal is fair and makes it "possible to find common ground." It accused the writers' union of making "unreasonable demands that are roadblocks to real progress." Among them, the statement said, were the writers' insistence that membership in their union be mandatory for reality TV and animation.

When the strike began Nov. 5, Wall Street analysts said it shouldn't have a significant negative effect on stock prices in the sector. But some cautioned that a prolonged strike, and the accompanying long period of TV reruns, could hurt the networks by driving viewers away over the long term.

Among the media stocks that could be affected by the strike are Viacom(VIA Quote); GE(GE Quote), which owns the NBC broadcast network; CBS(CBS Quote); and Disney(DIS Quote), which owns ABC.