Another sticking point involved what is known as “span,” or how long TV writers spend on each script. There are more shows than ever, but networks are ordering many fewer episodes per season — as few as six, compared with 22 or more in the past. At the same time, the episodes that are ordered are taking longer to produce — up to three weeks per episode, rather than the usual two. So series writers who are paid per episode are often making less while working more.

Part of the deal involved a union health insurance plan, which is running steep deficits, in part because it provides extremely generous coverage. Studios agreed to a bailout, while the union agreed to cost-saving changes.

Under proposals discussed Monday, according to analysts at Moody’s, higher compensation for writers would cost some entertainment companies $100 million to $125 million annually for each year of a new three-year contract. Unions representing directors and actors “will likely key off any agreement” with writers, adding to cost increases.

The actors’ contract with studios expires on June 30.

As the entertainment capital waited for word on talks on Monday, union members, including one involved with talks, posted messages on Twitter using the hashtag #wgaunity. Eileen Conn, whose credits include the Disney Channel series “K.C. Undercover” and the 1990s sitcom “Just Shoot Me,” posted a photo of Sally Field as the title character from the film “Norma Rae” and wrote: “We are strong! We are united!”

Some prominent politicians joined them. “I stand with the Writers Guild of America for fair pay and decent health care because it’s the right thing to do — and because Bruce and I can’t wait for the next season of ‘Ballers’ to start,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, wrote on Facebook, referring to her husband, Bruce Mann.

Writers last month voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike; 6,310 ballots were cast, representing 68 percent of eligible voters, with 96 percent in favor of a walkout if no palatable deal was offered by studios.

A strike would have pitted union writers, whose position has been eroded by reality television, the rise of lower-paying streaming networks and reduced output by major movie studios, against entertainment conglomerates like Comcast, the Walt Disney Company and Time Warner. Television talk shows that rely on writers for monologues and skits — “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Saturday Night Live” — would have been affected first, followed by soap operas and some scripted summer series.

In the last big Hollywood strike, a decade ago, an enraged Writers Guild walked out for 100 days over pay for digitally distributed shows. Tens of thousands of entertainment workers were idled, and the action cost the Los Angeles economy more than $2 billion, according to the Milken Institute.