SAG-AFTRA Year 2 Rate Increases Are Here: What Every Commercial Producer Needs to Know

Summary:

• For the first time under a SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract, rates are increasing on an annual schedule rather than at the end of a three-year cycle.
• Year 2 rates under both the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract and the Audio Commercials Contract took effect April 1, 2026 and run through March 31, 2027.
• These increases apply to new productions, unpermitted edits, and MPU renewals but not to all use categories. Knowing which spots are affected and which aren’t is where most budgeting errors will happen.
• The Pension and Health contribution rate is 23.5% (19.95% discounted), and that applies on top of all updated session and use fees.
• If you have active campaigns renewing MPU, spots going through edits, or productions currently in planning, your budgets may need to be recalculated now.

When the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract was ratified, it introduced a structure producers hadn’t seen before: annual wage increases built into the contract term rather than a flat rate held steady for three years. For a lot of producers and agencies, that change didn’t feel urgent in Year 1. Year 2 is a different story.

The new rates are in effect now. Whether you’re in active production, managing a campaign approaching MPU expiration, or working through an edit that crosses the permitted line, there are dollar amounts that have changed and compliance requirements that don’t pause while you catch up. In this post, we’ll break down exactly what changed, which productions are affected, what the updated rates look like, and what steps your team should take right now.

What Are the SAG-AFTRA Year 2 Rate Increases?

The 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract was negotiated as a multi-year agreement with built-in annual wage steps. This is a departure from how commercial contracts have historically worked, where rates were set at the start of a three-year term and held flat.

Under the new structure:

• Year 1 rates were in effect from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026
• Year 2 rates took effect April 1, 2026 and run through March 31, 2027
• Year 3 rates will follow April 1, 2027

The same annual escalation structure applies to the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Audio Commercials Contract, covering radio and audio-only commercial productions.

This matters because producers who built budget assumptions based on Year 1 rates may be working with numbers that no longer match what they’re obligated to pay. The rate changes are not dramatic line-item jumps in every category, but across a full production or a campaign with multiple talent, they add up.

Which Productions Are Affected?

Not every spot in your active campaign portfolio is subject to the Year 2 increases. Knowing which are and which aren’t is one of the most practical things your team can do right now.

Year 2 rates apply to:

• New commercials produced on or after April 1, 2026
• Commercials created as a result of an unpermitted edit (a new version of a spot that wasn’t approved under the original session contract)
• Commercials renewed following MPU expiration between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027

Year 2 rate increases do NOT apply to:

• Traditional Digital with Paid YouTube use rates
• Streaming platform use rates
• Class A use rates
• Local Cable use rates
• National Cable use rates
• Single Cable Channel use rates

That last list is worth flagging to your team because digital and cable buys are common budget lines and producers may assume all rates moved together. They didn’t. Use fees in those categories are held at prior levels, which means mixed-use campaigns need to be calculated category by category.

Why This Transition Is More Complex Than It Looks

Annual rate increases sound straightforward on paper. In practice, the timing of when a spot crosses from Year 1 into Year 2 territory creates some planning friction that catches teams off guard.

A few specific areas where we see confusion:

MPU Expiration Timing 

The Maximum Period of Use under the 2025 contract extends to 24 months, but MPU cycles and holding fee cycles don’t always align. If a spot’s MPU expires between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, renewal is calculated at Year 2 rates even if the original session was booked at Year 1 rates. Producers managing multi-year campaigns with staggered renewals need to flag every expiration date against this window.

Unpermitted edit

Under the contract, creating a new version of a spot that wasn’t covered under the original session agreement triggers the creation of a new commercial under the contract. Those new spots are subject to the rate in effect at the time of production, which is now Year 2.

Multi-service contract structures 

Producers using multi-service contracts need to confirm that all cost components are correctly categorized against Year 2 rates and that any excluded items (publicist fees, hair, makeup, wardrobe, travel, and separately itemized agency fees) are clearly documented as such. Items bundled into talent compensation rather than itemized separately become pensionable, and that affects your P&H calculations at the updated rates.

Budget templates built on Year 1 numbers

If your team is pulling from a saved budget template or a previous campaign as a starting point, those numbers are now a year out of date. Applying Year 1 session and use fees to a production that falls in the Year 2 window will produce budget shortfalls at billing.

Updated Year 2 Rate Reference: Commercials Contract

The tables below reflect the key rates from the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027.

Session Rates for Principals

Digital Use Rates for Principals (On Camera)

Wild Spot / Linear Use Rates for Principals (On Camera)

Cable Use Rates for Principals (On Camera)

Pension & Health: 

23.5% on all applicable compensation. Discounted rate: 19.95%.

Updated Year 2 Rate Reference: Audio Commercials Contract

The tables below reflect key rates under the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Audio Commercials Contract effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027.

Session Rates (Audio Standard)

Session Rates (Audio Flex)

Pension & Health 

23.5% on all applicable compensation. Discounted rate: 19.95%.

Steps Your Production Team Should Take Now

1. Audit Every Active Campaign for MPU Expiration Dates

Pull a full list of spots currently in use or recently produced and flag every Maximum Period of Use expiration date. Any spot renewing between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 will be renewed at Year 2 rates. If you’re managing a large campaign portfolio, this audit should happen before any renewal paperwork is processed, not after.

2. Review Any Planned Edits Before You Cut Them

An unpermitted edit is one of the more common ways productions accidentally trigger an obligation they weren’t expecting. Before any existing spot goes through a new cut, length change, or localized version, confirm with your production team whether the edit falls within what’s permitted under the original session agreement.

3. Update Budget Templates and Cost Estimating Tools

If your team is using saved budget templates, prior campaign estimates, or any cost estimating tool that hasn’t been updated since April 1, 2026, those numbers are producing inaccurate estimates. Session rates, use fees, and P&H calculations all need to reflect Year 2 figures for any production or renewal in this contract window.

4. Confirm Multi-Service Contract Documentation

If you’re working with multi-service contracts, itemization matters more than ever. Under the 2025 contract, items like publicist fees, hair, makeup, wardrobe, and travel are excluded from gross compensation for P&H purposes… but only if they are clearly itemized and paid separately. Agency fees are excluded when itemized and paid directly to the agent. A contract that includes a “plus 10 percent agency fee” without specifying direct payment to the agent makes that full amount pensionable.

5. Pull the Official Rate Sheets from the JPC

The Joint Policy Committee publishes the official rate sheets for both the Commercials Contract and the Audio Commercials Contract. If your team is referencing any version of the rates that predates April 1, 2026, you’re working from Year 1 numbers. Pull the current Year 2 sheets directly from the JPC and distribute them to anyone involved in talent budgeting or contract management on your productions.

Conclusion: SAG-AFTRA Rates Changed and So Should Your Signatory Strategy 

Annual rate increases are new territory for commercial production, and the teams that navigate this transition cleanly are the ones doing the audit work now rather than discovering discrepancies at billing. The dollar amounts in Year 2 are the floor for every new production, every unpermitted edit, and every MPU renewal through March 31, 2027. Year 3 follows in twelve months. Getting your processes in place now means that transition will be easier too.

As a third-party SAG-AFTRA signatory with deep expertise in commercials, corporate, educational, and interactive media contracts, CMS Productions helps producers budget, plan, and properly hire union talent, whether you’re working with celebrity talent or scale performers.

Contact us today for help with future productions.