Writers Guild of America (WGA) has called for negotiations on new...

produce agreement, WGA said it wouldn’t return to bargaining table until early April -- with both sides now predicting strike is likely. Studios and networks also are facing negotiations later this year with Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of TV & Radio Artists, raising likelihood that 3 guilds could strike at same time. Programmers have charged that WGA proposals (if picked up by other unions) would cost them more than $2.2 billion additional over next 3 years -- more than they now are expected to make in profits. WGA disputed that figure, saying guild’s proposal would cost studios $725 million over next 3 years. Dreamworks head Jeffrey Katzenberg told reporters that WGA demands would have ripple effect that could bankrupt producers. Mostly at issue are future revenues from new media, including Internet, DVD, videocassettes. Disney’s Robert Iger said programmers were curious as to why WGA had put 2-week limit on early negotiations: “It’s our intention to begin when we begin and to continue for as long as we possibly can” to reach agreement. In meeting with reporters, 3 program executives said it wasn’t their intention to conduct negotiations in media but to send clear signal to WGA that its members should lower their demands. Programmers went out of their way to dispel idea that studios have rigid negotiating strategy or that they secretly welcome strike, saying 14 companies that are members of Alliance of Motion Picture & TV Producers are in agreement. Negotiations will start with sharp division between parties, with guild claiming its members haven’t received fair share of “the dramatic increases in revenues in both screen and television,” according to recent report to WGA membership. Last WGA strike against studios, in 1988, lasted 5 months. Adding to current unrest is fact that studio contracts with SAG and AFTRA expire this spring.