Letterman's company to seek deal with writers

NEW YORK — David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, jumped Saturday at the chance to negotiate independently with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), saying it was eager to make a deal with its writers and get new episodes of its late-night shows back on the air.

The move by Worldwide Pants, which produces the "Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," could bolster the union's efforts to break apart the alliance of studios and networks with which it has been at loggerheads.

Hours after the union told members it would try to break the logjam by dealing with individual companies, Worldwide Pants Chief Executive Rob Burnett said the company would take the guild up on its offer.

"Because we are an independent production company, we are able to pursue an interim agreement with the Guild without involving CBS in that pursuit," Burnett said.

Guild officials did not have an immediate response as to how quickly negotiations with the company could proceed.

Talks broke off Dec. 7 after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, insisted it would not bargain further unless the union dropped proposals that included the authority to unionize writers on reality shows and animation projects.

Both sides in the strike, which began Nov. 5, have said the central issue is compensation for programs, movies and other content streamed or downloaded over the Internet.

On Saturday, guild officials sent their members a letter detailing their new strategy, which they plan to present to individual studios Monday.

A spokesman for studio group dismissed the union's tactic, saying the guild was "grasping for straws."

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.