America's TV viewers better get ready for more reruns because it's likely that's what they're going to get for quite some time, despite the fact both sides in the writers strike returned to the negotiating table.

Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp, told an investor conference in New York that he was hopeful, but "not terribly optimistic."

Bargaining resumed in Los Angeles after a four-day recess, with US$21 million separating contract proposals by studios and striking Hollywood writers.

The more telling figure involves the US$20,000-plus that writers now earn for a single network rerun of a TV episode and the US$250 the studios are offering for a year's online reuse of an hourlong show. That represents the divide between the old business order and burgeoning new media faced by negotiators as they try to end the strike, now in its fifth week.

The strike has shut down production on dozens of prime-time and late-night shows, sending a number of programs into reruns.

The walkout could soon affect the development of pilot episodes, which networks use to determine which series they will order for the next season. The process typically begins early in the year.

"If the strike is protracted, pilot season will be potentially ruined. Everything starts from the script," said Matt Edelman, a film and TV producer who now is chief executive officer of a lifestyle website, PeopleJam Inc.