While the writers remain on strike, it appears the directors have avoided a similar situation.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced on their website that a tentative agreement has been met for their collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

A major aspect of the deal is the landmark precedent set over new media and a heavy rate increase for electronic sell-through. The new media jurisdiction states that all programming produced for the Internet must be filmed by DGA members, unless the budget falls below a certain limit. Perhaps most notable though is the astonishing rate increase for electronic sell-through, i.e. downloaded films or television programs. Under this tentative agreement, the rate will double for television EST and will increase more than 80% for films. Another major part of the deal is the establishment of residual rates for ad-supported streaming video. A program will now get 17 days of free streaming (24 if it's in its first season) and after that, they have to pay 3% of the residual base to the guild, which comes to about $600 for an hour-long drama. The guild members also received a 3% increase in pay for every year of the three-year deal.

The deal must be approved by the DGA's National Board, which meets next on January 26, but even if it isn't approved, there is still some time left to avoid a WGA-like situation. The DGA's contract doesn't expire until June 30, 2008.