New York — The Writers Guild of America, East has negotiated improvements to its collective bargaining agreements with Hello Doggie, Inc., the production company which produces the hit cable shows The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Stephen Colbert Report. The agreements significantly improve the formula for calculating residuals paid to WGAE members for basic cable replays. The WGAE estimates that residuals payments will increase approximately 20% in 2012, despite a reduction in the number of replays which began in September 2011.

“It makes a real difference when Guild members are actively engaged in negotiations – and when the employer recognizes how integral writing is to the shows’ success,” said WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson, who was the union’s chief negotiator.

The members working on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report ratified the new agreements on November 9th and 10th. The employer had already implemented improvements that were part of the industry-wide Minimum Basic Agreement (“MBA”) negotiated by the WGAE and the Writers Guild of America, West earlier this year. The 2012-2015 MBA includes increases to minimum compensation and increased contributions to the Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan.