Striking New York writers to target media giants

"As we head into the thick of a presidential race, there's great material for us to be writing about," said Steve Bodow, head writer of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." "And it's a period when our audience would be growing, whereas with weeks of reruns ..."

During the strike, Bodow said, he would try "to make the best of a bad situation by pursuing other creative endeavors, and, like a disgraced politician, I look forward to spending more time with my family."

Most of the late-night shows taped in the city -- including "Late Show With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "Saturday Night Live" and the Jon Stewart- and Stephen Colbert-hosted shows on Comedy Central -- plan to go dark.

The city's news divisions, meanwhile, have been ramping up as they rush to fill a programming void. "We've accelerated our production of a lot of 'Primetime' limited series," said "Primetime" and "20/20" executive producer David Sloan.

The writers strike will touch only some employees at ABC News and CBS News, since just a small number are members of the union. CBS's "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours Mystery" as well as ABC's "20/20," "Nightline" and "Primetime" could absorb some impact because some staffers are WGA members.

A strike could also have a trickle-down effect throughout the city, as members of the creative sector move from sets and offices to other venues. Comedy writers, for example, could end up on standup stages .

"During the last strike (in 1988), more writers (for late-night shows) were in the clubs more to keep tuned up," said Caroline Hirsch, owner and president of comedy club Carolines on Broadway.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter