There is a lot going on concerning the Writers Strike these last few weeks and even more shakeups coming from the convergence of Broadcast Media with Internet Technology, so I’m starting a new daily Broadcast News posting for those of you that want to follow the dynamic changes happening at this critical time in our industry.

With 2008 hanging in balance, writers, studios to resume talks
A three-day negotiating session set to launch today between the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios could be the last, best hope to end the stalemate in time to save this year’s TV season and keep movie studios on schedule for their 2008 release dates. The Wall Street Journal (free content)

Facebook “friends” ABC News for channel on U.S. politics
Facebook has teamed with ABC News on a “U.S. Politics” channel, through which users can interact with reporters, screen news segments and join discussions about the country’s political situation. The arrangement, which is the social networker’s first collaboration with a news organization, also includes the joint sponsorship of Democratic and Republican presidential debates on Jan. 5 in New Hampshire. The New York Times

Are Martin’s ownership rules changes doomed to fail?
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin faces a lot of “political heat” from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, consumer groups and Democratic Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein owing to his controversial plan to amend media ownership rules by the end of the year, according to this article. Los Angeles Times (free registration)

• Martin going in the “wrong direction,” says Dorgan: In an interview on C-SPAN’s “The Communicators,” Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., discussed his opposition to proposed revisions to media cross-ownership regulations, saying FCC Chairman Kevin Martin “is not wise to try to jam this thing down the throats of the American people at this point.” Broadcasting & Cable

AFP - Five US film studios filed a lawsuit against a Chinese website and a cybercafe in Shanghai which they suspect of facilitating illegal downloads of their movies, Hollywood Variety said Friday. Read it here.

Commentary: NFL Network plays to relatively small audience
The Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys are the two leading teams in the National Football Conference, and their match-up this Thursday promises to be exciting. But fans who don’t live in the home markets of the teams can only catch the game on the fledgling NFL Network — available on relatively few pay TV systems. The Dallas Morning News

Cable, telecom, satellite providers work for compressed HDTV signals
DirecTV, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are among the providers of cable and satellite TV gearing up to compress high-definition video signals in the hopes of bringing more HDTV channels to consumer homes, according to this article. “HD quality is becoming a battleground,” Comcast Media Center Chief Operating Officer Gary Traver said. Multichannel News