Get ready for your tv viewing schedule to look different. The Writers Guild of America went on strike this week. The tv and film writers want better compensation for new media uses of their work, including the Internet, mobile phones and digital music players. The writers last went on strike in 1988, when the walkout lasted 22 weeks and according to MSNBC cost the industry more than $500 million.

Talk shows seem to be the first casualty. Some shows have already stopped production or will be shortly , including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
The Oprah Winfrey show doesn’t employ union writers so will not be effected.