DAVID LETTERMAN - WGA SETS MEETING WITH LETTERMAN REPS

WGA SETS MEETING WITH LETTERMAN REPS

The Writers Guild of America is scheduled to meet with representatives of David Letterman's Worldwide Pants company on Friday in hopes of reaching an agreement that would enable Letterman to return to the air with his writing staff on January 2. The agreement would also affect Craig Ferguson's late-night show, which is also produced by Letterman's company. Unlike the Tonight show, which is produced by NBC, the two Letterman shows are independently produced. The problem that the negotiators face, however, is that CBS distributes the Letterman shows, and the sticking points in the current dispute involve distribution, not production, issues -- primarily how much writers should be paid in residuals when programs are distributed on the Internet. Presumably a most-favored-nation clause could be written into the deal stipulating that the writers would receive the same amount that other writers do when the networks and the WGA finally reach an agreement.

20/12/2007