Cable360AM — News briefing for Monday, Dec. 10 »

Talks between TV and movie writers and Hollywood studios broke down Friday night over “deeper issues” than fair compensation for material distributed on the Internet, the New York Times reports. The striking Writers Guild of America wants to discredit the notion that reality shows are unscripted, and have the writers of those shows, as well as those of animated shows, join the union. The larger themes behind the strike, the Times says, are the unchecked power of the corporations that own Hollywood studios and the desire of those corporations to eliminate the traditional role of screenwriters by devaluing and mechanizing their work and thus decreasing their compensation and creative involvement. This underlying revolutionary aspect of the strike will keep the two sides from reaching an agreement anytime soon.
    TV producers may cancel the annual spring upfronts, in which they parade the stars of their new shows in front of advertising buyers. [New York Times]

An FCC insider says commission chairman Kevin Martin is a “lone operator.” [Los Angeles Times]

Fox News Channel’s two new satellite vans will be providing live election coverage while moving in traffic. [New York Times]

In CableFAX Daily: More on Macrovision and Gemstar-TV Guide. Friday’s 360AM.

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