3-27-09
Actors, Advertisers Far Apart, but Talks Moving Slowly Forward
Amid a news blackout, news reporters still have to write news, and dribs and drabs and rumors have been reported about the SAG/AFTRA and ad industry negotiations since they started at the end of February in New York.
The news cycle was helped when Douglas Wood, the lead negotiator for the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) outlined the two sides’ proposals at an ANA conference on March 10. According to various reports, Wood told the ANA that SAG and AFTRA were looking for a 6 percent across the board increase, while the JPC is looking for a complete restructuring in how actors are paid on TV.
Interestingly, most of the negotiation points are centered around TV, not the internet.
As expected, the JPC is looking to abolish Class A network pay per play in favor of a gross ratings points system that would cover all TV. Basically, actors would be paid based on the number of eyeballs that watch the particular show in which the ad runs. This would effectively shift some revenues to cable, which currently pays actors on a 13-week cycle.
The mantra for Wood and his team has been that they want to keep the “current aggregate compensation levels intact,” but move the money to different pots. In practice, that would likely mean that the same money would be spread out among more actors, and that the big, national commercial network payouts would be far fewer.
SAG and AFTRA not only worry that fewer of their members will be able to make a living doing commercials, but they simply don’t trust that any numbers from a gross ratings point system would be accurate. For years, the unions have not always been sure of Class A monitoring. That is, they haven’t trusted that the advertisers are reporting every time a commercial runs, and thus actors are being stiffed. SAG and AFTRA leaders, as far back as 2000, have been calling for the better use of tracking technology in ad spots, and union monitoring of the monitors. They also point out that TNS Media, which tracks ad runs, and the Nielson ratings often don’t match up.
Other major issues that insiders confirm are on the table deal with pension and health payments and the terms of a pilot study on the new compensation models. With P&H, the unions are seeking a hike in the contribution rate from 14.8 percent to 16 percent. Advertisers are looking for a P&H cap, similar to other industries, that would eventually decrease their contribution.
In terms of internet, actors are looking for a doubling of the session fee, but there seems to be no serious proposal on paying actors something similar to gross rating points—download rates or page views, for instance. Currently, actors get paid only the session fee for commercials made for new media.
The media has also reported that SAG and AFTRA have drafted a strike authorization request. That is true, insiders say, and it’s simply part of the process of negotiating a deal. Both Wood and union insiders say the negotiations are smooth and respectful, but slow.