Hollywood writers and studios reached a tentative agreement to end the monthslong strike that has shut down production of TV shows and movies.
The two sides said they have reached a deal in statements late Sunday, without giving further details. The agreement is for three years and includes increased royalties for writers, minimum staffing for writers, and protections against the use of artificial intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the talks.
The breakthrough in negotiations came after five consecutive days of talks that involved the chief executives of
Warner Bros. Discovery,
Disney,
Netflix,
and NBCUniversal Studios. Actors joined writers in the strike, and the deal with writers could pave the way for a resolution with actors as well.
In earnings reports over the past few weeks, studios said the strike had been saving them money in the short term, but that it would be damaging in the longer term when they have less content.
“I don’t think the trajectory of the industry is changed much by this news,” says Brian Wieser, founder of the strategic advisory firm Madison and Wall. “Traditional television will likely continue to decline and streaming will continue to ascend, and for now, consumers will continue to have massive libraries of high quality content to consume on-demand.”
Shares of
Paramount
(ticker: PARA) were down in Monday trading.
Dish Network
(DISH), Disney (DIS), and
Comcast
also dipped. Netflix (NFLX) and
Amazon.com
(AMZN) were climbing.
Writers won’t return to work until the details of the agreement have been hammered out.
Write to Brian Swint at [email protected]
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