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Hollywood writers set strike for Monday (AP)

Writers Guild of America board members voted unanimously Friday to begin the strike at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time (3:01 a.m. EST) unless studios offered a more lucrative deal with a bigger cut from video sales and shows sold or streamed over the Web. “The studios made it clear that they would rather shut down this town than reach a fair and reasonable deal,” Patric Verrone, president of the western chapter of the guild, said at a news conference. The union said it would stage its first pickets in New York and Los Angeles after strike captains meet Saturday to finalize details. Both sides agreed late Friday to meet with a federal mediator on Sunday in a last-ditch effort to avoid a strike. The meeting will take place at a neutral location to be determined, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said. Earlier in the day, J. Nicholas Counter, president of the producers’ group, called the writers’ strike “precipitous and irresponsible” in a prepared statement. Producers believe progress can be made on other issues but “it makes absolutely no sense to increase the burden of this additional compensation” involving DVDs and the Internet, he said. Last year alone, members of the western chapter of the guild were paid $56 million in additional compensation from DVD residuals, he said. Counter declined a request by The Associated Press for further comment. Among other media giants, the alliance represents CBS Corp.; NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; and The Walt Disney Co., owner of the ABC network. The negotiations began in July and were joined this week by a federal mediator. “We are committed to seeing this through and are willing to engage in any further discussions if the studios so desire,” Verrone said. The first casualty of the strike would be late-night talk shows, which are dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment. “The Tonight Show” on NBC will go into reruns starting Monday if last-ditch negotiations fail and a strike begins, according to a network official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person lacked authorization to comment publicly. Garth Brooks and Tommy Lee Jones were the scheduled guests. Comedy Central has said “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” would likely go into repeats as well. A message left seeking CBS comment on plans for “The Late Show with David Letterman” in New York was not immediately returned Friday evening. During the 1988 writers strike, Letterman, then host of NBC’s “Late Night,” and longtime “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson initially went off the air but later returned as the walkout dragged on for 22 weeks and cost the industry about $500 million. Daytime TV, including live talk shows such as “The View” and soap operas, which typically tape about a week’s worth of shows in advance, would be next to feel the impact. The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year. There could be widespread disruptions in Hollywood as other unions support the writers. Officials with the Screen Actors Guild have told members they must report for work but encouraged them to join picket lines during their off-time. A similar message came from the head of a local Teamsters union. However, those workers were told they were protected by law from employer retribution if they honored strike lines. John Bowman, chief negotiator for the writers guild and the producer on an upcoming TBS show “Frank, TV,” said he would not cross picket lines, even if it cost his job. “Unfortunately we have to inflict as much damage as we can as soon as possible in order to get this thing over,” he said. The economic impact of a strike is hard to estimate because not all production will be halted at once, economists said. “There definitely will be pain,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. The entertainment industry contributes about $30 billion a year to the Los Angeles economy, or about $80 million a day, he said. Talks between writers and producers will likely impact upcoming negotiations between the studios and unions representing actors and directors. All those unions believe revenue from content offered on the Internet, cell phones and other platforms will grow tremendously in the years ahead, even though it’s now minuscule compared to DVD sales. Consumers are expected to spend $16.4 billion on DVDs this year, according to Adams Media Research. By contrast, studios could generate about $158 million from selling movies online and about $194 million from selling TV shows over the Web. The strike was first announced Thursday night at a meeting attended by 3,000 union members whose moods ranged from defiant to somber. ____ AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this story.

Google to unveil mobile strategy: sources (Reuters)

Sources said the Google mobile operating system would be based on open-source Linux code, which will support applications from different software developers in addition to Google's own services, which include e-mail and mapping. Its partners include Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N), Deutsche Telekom's () T-Mobile USA, Motorola Inc (MOT.N) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), sources said. The phones are expected to come on the market around the middle of 2008, said one person who was briefed on the plans. "What Google is trying to do is win the war for a much larger audience, that being the mobile device," said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Google has been frustrated with their efforts to date to go in and do what they want (in mobile)," the source added. "Now they're taking a different tactic, saying: 'Why don't we create a broader working group where we're the anchor?"' The alliance, which aims to boost mobile Web surfing, has more than 25 members, the source said. Noticeably absent, others said, is handset market leader Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE), which owns 47.9 percent of British software company Symbian — a developer of operating systems for advanced cell phones. Google, which dominates Web search on desktop computers, has long said Internet use on cell phones would be key to its growth, but it has not yet been able to crack the market. Another person familiar with the matter said Google has to take a new approach and work with multiple partners if it wants its mobile offerings to work well on a large number of phones. Unlike the desktop computer, where Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) operating system dominates, cell phones run on multiple incompatible systems, often requiring application vendors to customize their software for each device. "If you're Google looking at the mobile environment, what you see really does not resemble what happens on the desktop, and the foundation to create that doesn't exist," another person familiar with the matter said. "Google doesn't necessarily want to be your phone … but they would certainly like to extend their business model to your phone." Google shares soared past $700 this week, buoyed by media reports that it would soon break into the phone market. The stock ended up 1.1 percent at $711.25 on Nasdaq on Friday, and has gained 50 percent in the last six months, outperforming Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) 9 percent gain. Analysts, however, say Google may have to offer more concessions than it originally wanted to reach deals with the largest U.S. wireless companies, which prefer to keep control of their devices and features. For months, investors have speculated that Google might design an entire phone, like Apple Inc (AAPL.O) did with its iPhone. But unlike the iPod maker, Google does not have a big name in devices, so analysts expect it to try to popularize its mobile services with software rather than hardware. Google has been in talks with Verizon Wireless — jointly owned by Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) — about putting Google applications on the phones it offers, people familiar with the matter said this week. Anian, a Reuters company that tracks industry trends for institutional investors, reported this summer that Google had engaged Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp () to design a Linux software-based phone for launch in the first quarter. All the companies involved declined to comment.

Warner stays out of online store deal (AP)