Yesterday negotiators for writers and studios meet to discuss a new deal that could put an end to the strike which entered its fifth week. Still, they didn’t succeed in reaching any deal.

Although some progress was made in recent days, these were set back by one big gap that separates the two sides: how should the writers be paid for the use of their work on the Internet.

Also another issue is the different priorities that the major Hollywood studios and their corporate parents have thus slowing the process of reaching a unanimous deal, just as the rules of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers require, L.A. Times reports.

The Writers Guild of America responded on Tuesday to the proposal made by the studios last week about streaming shows online with a system of tiered compensation which is based on how many times a show is viewed.

The writers now earn $20,000-plus from one single rerun of a TV episode, and the studios’ proposal is of $250 for a year for the use of an hour-long show online.

The guild’s proposal says that in the first year they will receive $632 for the first 100,000 views, and afterwards pay rates should increase at each 100,000 views.

Due to the strike dozens of production of prime-time and late-night shows were shut down thus many programs were forced to enter reruns, the Associated Press informs.

The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers said last Thursday that it is going to offer $130 million in extra pay over the proposed deal of three years.

The guild rejected this offer saying that it only addressed the programs supported by advertising streamed for free on the Web and jurisdiction over shows made only for the internet. They thought that the proposal was a "massive rollback."

However two people from the negotiating committee of the guild said: "It felt like the beginning of a negotiation.” According to one of them, the guild will analyze the proposal and is looking forward to continue the negotiations which are to end today.

According to David W. Rips, director of the media and entertainment practice at Deloitte Consulting, the biggest concern was to determine the compensation for emerging online and digital platforms.

The alliance was accused by Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West for not being able to negotiate.

He said: "I don't really feel like they're negotiating, and part of how they operate is, the AMPTP allows bottom-line hard-liners to rule the day. If any of these companies want to come forward and bargain with us individually, we think we can make a deal.”

The alliance includes studios, networks and producers. It has refused to make any comment.

If the strike continues into next year it could affect the first- and second-quarter outlooks for the TV units that are part of the media conglomerates.

It could cost ABC, CBS and Fox networks $300 million, by the sayings of a report drawn by Alan Gould, senior analyst with New York-based Natixis Bleichroeder.