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Cable TV Actors’ Residuals Raised

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Times Staff Writer

Actors who work on such cable television shows as “The Shield” and “Monk” will receive a 21% pay raise when episodes rerun, according to a new union contract announced Friday.

In March, the Screen Actors Guild announced a similar increase in residuals -- the system in which actors are paid for subsequent airings of their work -- for performers working on animated shows for basic cable television.

Residuals are paid on a sliding scale that decreases with each repeated airing.

Under the latest contract, residuals for the first rerun would increase to 17% from 12% of the performer’s minimum pay (currently $716 for a four-hour session), moving down to 1.5% of the minimum for the 13th showing and each subsequent run. Based on a typical run pattern of 25 repeats for a basic cable episode, that amounts to a 21% jump in residuals, the guild said.

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The contract is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2006, and runs through June 30, 2008. It is the second reached under guild President Alan Rosenberg, who was elected last year on a promise of being tougher in negotiations with producers and studios.

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