WGA reaches agreement with CBS talk shows

The Writers Guild of America has reached an agreement with Worldwide Pants, the production company behind The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, that will permit the two CBS late night talk shows to return to the air with their writers in the New Year.

The agreement will give Letterman and Ferguson a competitive advantage over NBC rivals Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, whose shows will also be returning to air in January but without their respective writing teams.

In a statement, the WGA said: "The Writers Guild has reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full writing staffs. This is a comprehensive agreement that addresses the issues important to writers, particularly New Media. Worldwide Pants has accepted the very same proposals that the Guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations on December 7.

"Today’s agreement dramatically illustrates that the Writers Guild wants to put people back to work, and that when a company comes to the table prepared to negotiate seriously a fair and reasonable deal can be reached quickly.

"It’s time for NBC Universal to step up to the plate and negotiate a company-wide deal that will put Jay Leno, who has supported our cause from the beginning, back on the air with his writers."