• April 25, 2006

Major media companies are working through their issues with the unions when it comes to new after-market airings of prime-time shows. Disney-ABC Television Group's Touchstone Television reached agreements with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) over unions' representation of production of "Lost" mobisodes.

Disney is planning a series of mini-episodes designed for mobile phones, called "Lost Video Diaries." Both Touchstone and the Guilds say this agreement will hopefully set a framework for future negotiations within the new digital frontier. Says Mark Pedowitz, president, Touchstone Television, in a press release: "We look forward to finding additional ways in which we can work together to experiment on a Guild-represented basis in this new digital media arena."

--Wayne Friedman