October 11, 2008 by Voiceguy.

Perhaps the easiest way to illustrate what Booz-Allen has created is to run a hypothetical example. That’s what we’ll do in this post.

The Individual Commercial model allows the user to enter information on the “Input” sheet in three steps:

1. Performer Information. Enter the number of on-camera principal, off-camera principal, Group 3-5 on or off, Group 6-8 on or off, etc., AND the number of sessions for performers in each category.

2. Airplay information. Set up a media plan, entering the number of plays for the commercials on the major networks (ABC, CBS, etc.), various cable channels (ESPN, A&E, USA, etc.), syndication, dealer, and wild spot.

3. Enter prime time/non-prime time airplay. For each “channel” of network or cable usage, enter how many of the runs are in prime time, and how many are not. The totals must match what was entered in step 2.

There are a couple of other settings, and an opportunity to enter Internet or New Media runs if desired. Once it’s all entered, the model displays a series of green “inputs complete” messages, and the user switches to the “Output” sheet.

As a test of the model, I entered a hypothetical commercial that had these characteristics:

a. 1 on-camera principal and 1 off-camera principal, each having 1 session.

b. 10 plays apiece on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. 5 each of these plays are on prime time, and the other 5 in non-prime time.

c. 50 plays apiece on four cable channels (TNT, USA, etc.), again assigning half (25) to prime time and the other half to non-prime time.

d. For the purpose of this test run, no dealer, syndication, or wild spot usage is entered. The session fee is credited against network usage.

Here’s the first chart that is spit out. The left bar, labeled “baseline,” is the model’s computation of talent payments under the current contract. The colored segments relate to the components of those payments: Here, session fee, network (Class A), and cable. To the right are three bars representing payment under three versions of the Booz-Allen “Adjusting Tiers” approach, and a fourth bar representing payment under the “GRP” (ratings-based) approach. As you can see, in this particular example the talent payments are actually better under the Booz-Allen approaches.

Right-click on the small thumbnail below and open it in another tab or window to see a small table that provides specifics, as well as percentage comparisons with the baseline (current contract) compensation.

(right-click here)

Next we are given a chart that breaks down the compensation by performer category. In this simple example we have two performers in two categories (on-camera principal and off-camera principal). The chart shows the compensation to each under the baseline, adjusting tiers, and GRP approaches.

As before, there is also a table providing the detail information. Right-click on the thumbnail and open in another window or tab for convenient viewing.

(right-click here)

In future posts I will experiment with other scenarios to see how the model works as the major components are varied.  If anyone has suggestions for plausible scenarios please don’t hesitate to offer them.

If you have not already done so, I recommend reading the earlier posts in this series: Commercials, Part I: Where We Stand Today, Commercials, Part 2: Background on the Booz-Allen Study, and Commercials, Part 3: Building the Booz-Allen Model.

And as always I urge everyone to make time for one of the meetings set up by SAG and AFTRA to explain and demonstrate the Booz-Allen recommendations in more depth.

Next:  Exploring the New Approaches

VG

Posted in Commercials Contract, SAG-AFTRA | Print | No Comments »

October 11, 2008 by admin.

A reader wrote in with a simple question - when does the SAG Basic Cable Agreement expire? The full letter and our answer is on the Letters to SAGWatch page. But we’re not positive that our answer is correct (our contracts expert is off on vacation). Does anybody have a correction or more information?

Posted in Basic Cable, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | No Comments »