In David Letterman's House, the Writers Wear the Pants

As Hollywood writers prepare to enter their ninth week on strike, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has for the first time been able to claim a victory in their efforts to secure a new and favorable deal covering so-called "new media" -- the free streaming video and paid downloads from services such as iTunes where consumers can watch movies and entire seasons of television shows on their computers or on portable devices such as smart phones and iPods.

This deal was agreed upon on Friday between the WGA and David Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants, which owns The Late Show, a unique circumstance on the late-night talk show circuit as all the other hosts including Jay Leno are strictly employees of their respective networks, who own the shows.

The CBS network which broadcasts Letterman's show distanced itself from the agreement in order to maintain a united front with its supposed competition under the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) umbrella, an organization that represents every major network and studio in the business.

According to statements made by Patric Verrone, President of the Writers Guild of America, West, the deal signed between the writers union and Worldwide Pants was substantively similar to a proposal that was on the negotiating table when the AMPTP walked away on December 7th.

With pressure building on the late-night hosts to return under their existing non-writing contracts, all of the major hosts were set to return on January 2nd without their writing staff and since most of the hosts are WGA members, unable even to write their own monologues or skits due to strike rules prohibiting such conduct -- often referred to as "scabbing" -- limiting them to extended interviews of guests who are willing to cross the picket lines.