According to the SAG-AFTRA newsletter, the members of the Screen Actors Guild voted and approved the 2025 Network Television Code Agreement with a 96.48% to 3.52% vote. The new contract will cover performers working on live and recorded programs such as soap operas, talk, variety, reality, game, and award shows. Plus news and sports programming.

Approximately 160,000 actors and other performers of various ages are represented by the SAG-AFTRA union.  The members represent the voices and faces that not only entertain the public but also inform us with news, media coverage, and live events, including politics, sports, the weather, national and global disasters, election outcomes, and much more.

The SAG newsletter also highlighted many new gains for the members. Under this new agreement, there will be an overall wage increase of 3% to up to 9% depending on the project. The dancers of the Super Bowl Halftime show will see an increase as well. There will be an increase in safety measures for all young performers, which include background checks for individuals who will be on set to supervise or educate minors and emancipated minors. There will also be better efforts to ensure intimacy coordinators are on set for scenes that involve intimacy, nudity, or simulating sex. Performers must also have a 48-hour advance notice that the scene is occurring. The agreement will also secure terms for artificial intelligence in 2026.

Members submitted their votes either by mail or online, with the deadline of August 20, 2025, at 5 p.m. PST, certified by Integrity Voting Systems.

“We’ve locked in meaningful gains for performers across all categories, while building a foundation for future victories on critical issues like artificial intelligence,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in the newsletter. “I’m especially proud of the progress we’ve made on protections for young performers, hair and makeup equity, and the use of intimacy coordinators, all of which reflect our union’s values and vision for the future.”