Remember that obnoxious writers strike that brought all of Hollywood to a standstill and ruined the spring television season? You might recall one of the main tenants that producers and writers were squabbling about was digital revenues — as in, the writers weren't be compensated very well for the Internet revenues generated from their works. But!, said media companies, there are no digital revenues; DVD sales of TV shows is still where it's at, they claimed, and streaming ad revenues were basically worth pennies.

That was then.

Embedded in Disney's (DIS) latest filing with the SEC is a claim that might go down as a first in the annals of big media: Disney says it now has a meaningful digital business.

How meaningful? Disney won't say. But it says it was enough to help its broadcast TV group (the ABC network, plus the local stations ABC owns) show a slight revenue increase over last year in the face of a cratering ad market.

Disney's broadcasting revenue came in at $1.531 billion, up $7 million from the $1.524 billion the unit took in a year ago. That in itself is an achievement, considering the lower ratings at ABC and the decreased advertising revenue from automotive, consumer electronics and financial services. How'd they do it? In part, through digital revenue from ABC.com that went to the network and local stations, as revenue from the kids virtual world Club Penguin.

[SIA]