• by Wayne Friedman , April 1, 2009

Early Wednesday morning, the actors' unions and the advertising groups reached an agreement on a new three-year deal.

After all-night talks, a new three-year agreement was reached between the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). The current agreement expired March 31.

The agreement will give actors more than a $36 million increase in wage rates, as well as $21 million in increased contributions to the SAG Pension and Health Plan and the AFTRA Health and Retirement Fund.

Advertisers did not get to change one of their major issues -- changing the longtime pay-per-play formula. Still, the new contract contains an agreement for a pilot study to test a model where actors get paid depending on the ratings of a commercial -- something advertisers currently use for their spot-buying deals on the networks. Possible adoption of the so-called gross-rating-point model would come from new negotiations to be adopted not later than January 3, 2012.

Some highlights of the new agreement:

• Three-year agreement, term effective April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012

• 5.1% overall increase in wages and other compensation over the life of the contracts, including a 4.43% increase, effective April 1, 2009, in Class A, Wild Spot and basic cable session fees

• For products made for the Internet or in New Media, 1.3 times the minimum session fee for 8 week's use and 3.5 times the minimum session fee for one year's use

• 0.5% increase in the employer contribution rate to the AFTRA H&R and SAG P&H plans, bringing the total contribution rate to 15.3%. The agreement provides for a cap on P&H and H&W contributions, but the committee successfully negotiated the industry from their initial demand of $250,000 to $1,000,000 per performer, per contract, per year.

• Secured five new covered jobs for commercial extras, up from 40 to 45

• Established new exclusivity provisions for made-for-cable-only commercials

• Instituted, for the first time, a contract provision to pay extras a round-trip mileage fee of $8

• Increased foreign use payments under the Spanish Language section of the contract