After nearly twenty years, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has officially called a strike. The WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) tried to settle their differences over the weekend, but negotiations ended in hostility and no compromise in sight. Picketing has begun in New York at Rockefeller Plaza and at several studio lots in Los Angeles. The strike immediately affects talk shows, both daytime and late-night. The next group to feel the pain will be the daytime soaps, which typically tapes 2-3 weeks in advance. And then primetime television fans will suffer as the networks run out of scripts and production comes to a complete halt.

The WGA Negotiating Committee, on behalf of the Writers of Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), has issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

Early today, the WGA completely withdrew its DVD proposal, which the Companies [AMPTP] said was a stumbling block. Yet, the Companies still insisted on the following:

• No jurisdiction for most of new media writing.
• No economic proposal for the part of new media writing where they do propose to give coverage.
• Internet downloads at the DVD rate.
• No residual for streaming video of theatrical product.
• A "promotional" proposal that allows them to reuse even complete movies or TV shows on any platform with no residual. This proposal alone destroys residuals.
• A "window” of free reuse on the Internet that makes a mockery of any residual.

The last strike, which occured in 1988, lasted 22 weeks and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. This strike could potentially cost in excess of $1 billion.