LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Hollywood writers are poised to strike after their negotiating team recommended a walkout in a dispute over royalties at a Thursday night meeting of the union membership.
The Writers Guild of America board will meet on Friday to make a formal decision and set a strike date against producers. It would be the union's first strike in nearly 20 years.
Steve Skrovan, a screenwriter for the Fox show "Til Death," said after the meeting that a strike is all but inevitable.
"We've never been more united and we are willing to deal -- and our decision makers are at the table," said Skrovan. "Their decision makers are not at the table, and that tells you pretty much all you need to know about how the companies are pushing this."
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers President Nick Counter said the news was no surprise.
"By the WGA leadership's actions at the bargaining table, we are not surprised by tonight's recommendation," Counter said in a written statement. "We are ready to meet and are prepared to close this contract this weekend."
The labor impasse concerns royalties from DVD sales -- last negotiated in 1988. Writers also want royalties from the so-called new media -- all the various places their works are now distributed, including Internet downloads. Watch how a strike could affect your favorite shows »
"The future of TV is not going to look like what it's been for the last 30 years," said TV writer Dave Schiff, who has penned scripts for "King of the Hill" and "That 70s Show."
"So, you know it's not just for us who are currently working, but writers down the line, that we make sure that we get a ... piece of the pie."
But CBS President Nina Tassler said not enough is known yet about new media revenues.
"We don't know what the pie is yet, in order to determine how to cut it up," she said recently.
Hollywood producers say the issues are non-starters.
"We want to make a deal," Counter told the writers on Wednesday, according to a written statement. However, he added, "No further movement is possible to close the gap between us so long as your DVD proposal remains on the table."
Writers accuse producers of being non-responsive.
"After three and a half months of bargaining, the AMPTP still has not responded to a single one of our important proposals," a statement from the WGA said.
"Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable."
TV writer Bryce Zabel said that producing companies "have decided to force the writers into a situation of a strike."
"Our choice right now is to accept a completely unacceptable deal or to go on strike," he said. "Strike is the only option."
If the roughly 12,000 writers do go on strike, late-night television hosts like David Letterman, Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, as well as programs like "The Daily Show," would feel the pinch first. Because of their topical nature, these shows are not typically written or recorded in advance.
Daytime soaps normally stockpile about 30 days in advance, and most prime time shows would likely make it through the end of the year without any impact on programming.
But networks would have to resort to reruns, news programs and reality shows to fill the schedule in 2008 if a strike were to drag on.
The film industry has also been preparing for a possible strike.
"Everyone is sort of madly scrambling to get scripts into production, sometimes a little ahead of what might otherwise be prudent," said Gavin Hood, director of the film "Rendition."
The film and television industry is responsible for an estimated 1.3 million jobs in the United States.
The union's most recent strike, in 1988, lasted five-and-a-half months. Industry estimates say a half-billion dollars was lost because of that strike.
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