DGA Reaches Tentative Deal With TV Networks For New Contract Covering News, Sports And Operations

The DGA has reached a tentative agreement with ABC, CBS and NBC for a new contract covering the TV networks’ staff and freelance members employed in news, sports and operations at the companies’ networks and many of their owned local stations.

The agreement, which now goes to the guild’s membership for ratification, was unanimously approved by the DGA national board of directors October 19, but was only announced Wednesday. The new deal is separate from the guild’s basic film and TV contract, which comes up for negotiation next year.

“News, sports and local television collectively reach massive audiences, and the contributions of our members who work in these areas are absolutely critical to the success of these operations,” DGA president Thomas Schlamme said. ‘This deal is a testament to that value. That’s especially meaningful in the context of the industry’s changing business environment, and makes the results obtained by our Network Negotiations Committee all the more impressive.”

The tentative agreement includes:

• Increased wages and fees by 2.5% in each of the three years of the agreement for a compounded wage increase of 7.7% over the term of the contract.

• The right to divert up to 2% of the negotiated wage increase to the DGA Pension or Health Plan during the term of the agreement.

• Provisions securing work opportunities for members who work in sports, among other gains.

The negotiations between the DGA’s Network Negotiations Committee and ABC, CBS and NBC began in mid-September in New York and concluded at the end of the month. The committee was headed by co-chairs Brett Holey (Senior Director, NBC News), Lily Olszewski (Director, ABC’s Good Morning America) and Scott Berger (Associate Director, CBS Evening News) together with DGA Eastern Executive Director Neil Dudich.

“These were tough negotiations,” Dudich said. “But our co-chairs, utilizing the skills, forward-thinking and tenacity they bring to their jobs day in and day out, achieved a contract that serves our membership today, and also looks forward into the future. This is a deal that we’re very proud of.”

The current pact expires on June 30, 2020. If ratified, the new contract will cover the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.