(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-27 16:26

LOS ANGELES  -- Hollywood movie and television writers overwhelmingly ratified Tuesday the contract proposed earlier this month that ended their over-100-day strike, the writers' union announced.

According to the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the contract was approved by 93.6 percent of over 10,000 members of the guild's east and west branches.

"This contract is a new beginning for writers in the digital age," said Patric Verrone, president of the guild's western branch. "It ensures that guild members will be fairly compensated for the content they create for the Internet."

Writers in Los Angeles and New York went on strike last November for a share of revenues from programs distributed through new media such as the Internet. The strike has ground most television and movie production in the US entertainment industry to a halt.

The strike came to an end earlier this month when the proposed contract was hammered out by negotiators of the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Hollywood studios and television networks.

Local officials estimated that the writers' strike has cost the Los Angeles area's economy as much as 3 billion US dollars.