WASHINGTON — An unusual alliance of Hollywood producers and creative workers is mobilizing here for a stiff fight against company efforts to relax long-standing limits on media ownership.
The coalition combines directors, writers, actors and producers -- groups more often known for strife than unity.
But the new push by frequently divided siblings is grounded in a shared fear that any move by the Federal Communications Commission to allow further consolidation in the TV business would kill jobs and stifle creativity.
"This is really unprecedented," said Victoria Riskin, president of the Writers Guild of America, West. "It's remarkable how this one issue seems to have captured the entire community."
The campaign is being led by guilds and professional organizations that usually are overshadowed in Washington by powerful company groups such as the film industry's Motion Picture Assn. of America.
This time around, however, members of the creative coalition are aggressively hiring lobbyists, funding economic studies about the evils of consolidation and dispatching high-profile representatives, including "Law and Order" producer Dick Wolf and "The Enforcer" producer Leonard Hill, to Capitol Hill and the FCC.
The campaign pits the guilds squarely against their members' primary employers, entertainment and media conglomerates such as Viacom Inc. and News Corp., which are pushing to kill government rules that restrict them from buying additional TV stations or mixing ownership of stations and newspapers in a single market, among other things.
(Tribune Co., parent of The Times and an owner of TV stations, is among the companies lobbying to lift the rules.)
"In an economic age where four of the six networks are losing money, we have to figure out different ways to get programming on television," said Leslie Moonves, president of Viacom's CBS unit. Moonves said one way to shore up faltering networks is through increased ownership of TV outlets.
"But in no way does that sacrifice quality on television," the executive insisted.
Among the entertainment unions that have stepped up activities in Washington are the Writers Guild of America, East and West; the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors; the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists; the Producers Guild of America; the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild.
