• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 14, 2008

Weinstein Company, United Artists, and Worldwide Pants have given the Writers Guild of America something in their recent respective deals. Exactly what, no one knows.

Have they succumbed to what some executives are saying are "ugly nerds"?

At issue are revenues from digital media deals -- revenue that those film and TV producers don't really control. It's their respective distributors who hold those cards. The guess is that producers have given up some extra financial incentives, but maybe not exactly attached to new media.

TV executives -- and some union writers -- are now calling WGA's organizing tactics, perhaps negotiating tactics, increasingly militant. Hardball tactics are tough to take, according to one WGA organizer. But all will benefit in the spoils -- if successful.

On the Ryan Seacrest syndicated radio show, Ben Silverman, NBC's Entertainment chief, discussed the recent deal to downgrade the Golden Globes awards from an entertainment event to a press conference. Silverman said it feels like producers/networks are being held hostage by the "nerdiest, ugliest, meanest kids in the high school trying to cancel the prom."

Writers are ugly? Some for sure. But the whole strike scenario is unsightly. Writers would say the amount of residuals they get for DVDs is ugly.

Producers/networks believe the Weinstein, UA, and Worldwide Pants deals don't amount to much, carrying little leverage. Giving up any new media revenue, can be superseded by an agreement reached with the major companies through the producers' bargaining group, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

CBS does benefit somewhat -- with the advertisers. The deal allows the network to sell advertising in writer-approved programming, the "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." Maybe heavily unionized TV advertisers such as General Motors will be more sympathetic.

This comes on top of what CBS said recently -- that it has no problem in making any scatter buy to any marketer who wants one, as opposed to other networks such as NBC and CW, which have been virtually out of sale. Overall, CBS says TV revenue will be down -- but program costs will be down a lot more, which is the same news as other networks.

Just some ugly but nerdy news Wall Street will take in this second-guessing-filled TV season .