The AFTRA (Radio and Television) today agreed on new contracts with the studios, a small three weeks after the negotiations started. “This is a challenging time in the entertainment industry, and this was a tough negotiation,” an AFTRA spokesman said. The deal comes as quite a surprise, since the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) negotiations dragged on and on last month and were broken off to make way for the AFTRA. This will put extra pressure on the SAG, which was already accused of setting unreasonable demands.

“Our ability to achieve these crucial breakthroughs for performers was a direct result of AFTRA members’ pragmatic approach to collective bargaining,” the AFTRA said, taking a small stab at the SAG. The main dispute between the AFTRA and the studios were online clips. The studios wanted to be able to show them without consent, while the AFTRA wanted their members to approve such clips. The two now agreed to have a broader system, where members can approve for example the clips from an entire TV series.

It was the first time in 27 years that the SAG and AFTRA bargained separately. The SAG, which has three times as many members, is expected to resume their talks shortly.