NBC, which carried the Golden Globes in their infancy, resumed its broadcast of the awards ceremony 12 years ago. The network built the show into a cash cow, routinely pulling in more than 20 million viewers. NBC in recent years has made $10 million to $15 million on its Globes telecast, according to two people close to the network.

There are at least three reasons for NBC to treat the show as a news event. First, the news division doesn't have to pay to use clips from movies and TV shows. Second, the network isn't on the hook for the $6-million licensing fee it would pay the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and Dick Clark Productions for the regular awards show. Finally, the network doesn't have to use WGA writers to provide material.

But the arrangement did not please rival television news organizations, which said privately they were irked that they would be barred from covering the event. (Print reporters will apparently be allowed in, but NBC is the only TV network that will be permitted to cover it.)

Advertisers were uncertain about the revised show's prospects as well.

"Is there going to be a red carpet, or will it just be an area rug?" said Shari Anne Brill, director of programming for ad-buying firm Carat, whose clients include Revlon, Alberto Culver and Papa John's Pizza.

"This is not what viewers have come to expect -- the glam and the glitz and the spontaneity of the Golden Globes," Brill said. But she said she understood why NBC was determined to put on some version of the show. "This way, NBC can keep the ad dollars. But I can't imagine that they will take in the same amount that they had planned if this had been a regular telecast."

Another advertising buyer offered a similar view.

"A big part of the appeal of this show is having the glitz and glamour of Hollywood right there in your living room," said Brad Adgate, research director for Horizon Media, which represents such clients as Ace Hardware, Geico and Mutual of Omaha. "People want to see who's wearing what and who George Clooney's talking to. The casualness and the party atmosphere of the Golden Globes has long been its hallmark. I don't know if a press conference is something that viewers will go for. It works for a presidential address, but this is supposed to be a Hollywood awards show."

Scott Rudin, who has producing credits on Golden Globe nominees "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," said he was discouraged by the turn of events.

"I think it's a terrible shame for the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.," he said. "This is a group that's completely caught in the middle of a situation that has nothing to do with them. It's a terrible shame that they're somehow being made to bear the brunt of it. They support a lot of challenging, difficult movies. And that's a great thing."

Also on Monday, United Artists Films became the first movie company to sign a deal with the Writers Guild of America, enabling the start-up outfit controlled by Tom Cruise and his longtime producing partner, Paula Wagner, to hire union writers during the continuing strike.

Although details of the independent agreement were not released, it was believed to be similar to the deal the guild recently struck with late-night TV host David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Inc. Both agreements contain provisions accepting proposals that the union put forth in its negotiations with the major studios, including in the key area of Internet residuals.

john.horn@latimes.com

meg.james@latimes.com

Times staff writers Rachel Abramowitz, Claudia Eller and Matea Gold contributed to this report.