Settling Strike With Unions Could Cost Studios $450-$600 Million, Moody’s Estimates

Actors in the SAG-AFTRA union join the already striking WGA union, film and tv writers on the picket line, on the first day of a SAG-AFTRA strike, in Los Angeles, CA, on July 14, 2023

Moody’s Investors Service is expecting the strike by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA to last a relatively long time and result in incremental costs of between $450 million and $600 million to media companies when it is settled.

The strike will have the most immediate impact on the movie theater companies, credit-rating agency Moody’s said in a report Monday, but next on the chopping block are the media companies making the transition to streaming from broadcast television and pay TV channels, Moody’s said.