A couple of quick points. This article from The Wall Street Journal (dated today) includes the following paragraph…
As of yesterday afternoon, the guild hadn't responded to Worldwide Pants' request to begin separate negotiations. People close to the guild said there was some disagreement among members over whether the guild should make way for late shows to return, with some primetime showrunners — writer-producers responsible for the day-to-day operation of TV series — arguing against it. A WGA representative said no independent deal has yet been worked out with Worldwide Pants, but declined to comment further. Worldwide Pants had no further comment on the deal.
If you do a quick Google News search, you'll see that a lot of sources were saying that Worldwide Pants was already in negotiation with the WGA or even that a deal was almost signed. Those reports were just moonshine, based on nothing. No one at the WGA or at Worldwide Pants said they were already talking but it was reported as if they had. And as I said, it may be a lot more complicated than people expect. (It's even a bit more complicated today with the announced returns of Leno and O'Brien to the air…and before the date that was mentioned for Letterman's possible return.)
Also, a note on terminology: A lot of news stories are saying that Jon Stewart (or someone else) is seeking a "waiver" so his writing staff can resume work. Wrong word. A waiver would be like what the WGA granted for the Screen Actors Guild Awards show, saying that we suspend the strike for a specific event and allow writers to work without a contract. What Letterman is seeking, what Stewart may be seeking is an Interim Contract. That is an actual deal that is made outside the purview of the AMPTP. There may be a clause in it that, later on, would allow Worldwide Pants to shift to the terms that the AMPTP will eventually negotiate with the WGA…but it's still a valid contract, not a waiver. They are not the same thing.
That's all from here. I'll try to resist the urge to blog from the meeting tonight and instead, post something whenever I get home.