LOS ANGELES—The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have reached an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to extend for one year the current TV/theatrical contract set to expire on June 30. In order to be finalized, the deal must still be ratified by the full membership of SAG and AFTRA, which is likely.
The tentative settlement means that industry eyes now turn to upcoming talks between the AMPTP and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The current WGA pact is scheduled to expire on May 2.
The commercialmaking community has kept a watchful eye on the state of both the actors’ and writers’ negotiations. A strike by either the writers or actors against feature/TV studios could compromise the fall TV season, possibly causing advertisers to curtail their original spot production.
A similar situation existed in 2001, at which time media buyers at major ad agencies expressed concern that a strike or strikes could prompt an overload of reality and news shows, creating a programming mix not as inviting to sponsors as the perennial menu of first-run sitcoms and drama series. Strikes were averted in ’01, but the threat of labor walkouts was enough for feature and TV producers to stockpile content, pushing through filming schedules as a contingency measure.
The tentatively reached extension of the actors’ agreement now at least buys a year of relief from the prospect of the fall primetime season being negatively impacted by a SAG/AFTRA strike. Plans call for SAG and AFTRA to negotiate jointly this fall with the AMPTP on a new three-year contract.
Key provisions of the extension agreement include: SAG and AFTRA gaining the right to jointly negotiate with AMPTP on terms and conditions for all primetime dramatic TV programming; an increase of two-and-a-half percent on minimum salary rates for all performers; and a one-half percent increase in producer contributions to the unions’ health plans.
AMPTP president Nick Counter stated, "Of paramount importance was to keep the industry operating, without fear of interruption or a work slowdown. All the parties negotiated in earnest in key areas in order to achieve the larger goal of another year of industry stability. We look forward to sitting down with the unions in the fall with adequate time to deal with the difficult issues in front of us without risking a disruption of production."
Now the collective industry—including commercialmakers—is keeping its fingers crossed that a settlement, hopefully a new three-year agreement, can be reached in the writers’ talks. The outcome of those negotiations, one way or the other, figures to have a ripple effect on the advertising industry.
The SAG/AFTRA extension arguably improves prospects for a WGA agreement. It affords the major studios the opportunity to focus on negotiations with Hollywood writers.
