Television syndication residuals are ongoing union payments made to principal actors whenever a TV show airs beyond its initial broadcast on local stations, non-primetime network slots, or basic cable channels. Under Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) rules in the US, studios calculate these payouts either as a 3.6% pool of the distributor’s gross licensing revenue for broadcast syndication deals signed after July 1, 2020, or on a declining per-run scale for older licenses. Production companies send these funds to the union, which verifies the math and distributes checks to actors or their heirs.
When an actor is hired for a television episode, their initial paycheck (known in the industry as session pay) only covers the work on set and the very first broadcast in the primary market the show was made for. Every time that episode is licensed out and re-aired after that initial exhibition, the studio owes additional compensation. According to SAG-AFTRA residual records from 2026, the union processes between 5.5 million and 6 million individual residual payments each year across television and film.
What counts as television syndication and who qualifies for pay?
In US union contracts, network television refers specifically to primetime broadcasts on ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox, defined as 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday. Syndication covers free television outside those four primetime windows, including independent local stations, local network affiliates airing daytime or late-night reruns, non-primetime network slots, and networks like The CW and ION. Re-airing episodes on basic cable channels or licensing a series to a streaming platform ( such as when Netflix licenses a series in a multi-show syndication deal ) also triggers secondary reuse payments under their own contract formulas.
Not everyone on screen gets a check in the mail when an old episode airs at midnight. To earn syndication residuals under US union rules, a performer must meet two strict conditions:
- They must be hired under, or upgraded on set to, a principal performer agreement. This category covers speaking actors, stunt performers, stunt coordinators, professional singers, puppeteers, pilots, and Schedule J dancers.
- Their performance must remain in the final cut of the episode. If a speaking actor shoots a scene for three days and gets paid their initial session fee, but the director cuts the scene in the editing room, that actor receives no residuals.
Background actors (extras) never earn residuals, no matter how clearly their faces appear on camera. The only exception is if the director gives a background performer a line or distinct business on set and officially upgrades their contract to a principal performer agreement before the shoot wraps.
How television syndication residuals are calculated
The math behind a syndication check depends on when the studio signed the licensing deal and when the episode was originally filmed. Because union rules are locked to the contract in place when principal photography began, older shows and newer shows often follow completely different formulas.
Under the 2020 SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Agreement, any broadcast syndication license entered into after July 1, 2020 uses a revenue-sharing model based on Distributor’s Gross Receipts (DGR). When a studio licenses a package of episodes to local broadcast stations, 3.6% of the gross licensing money collected by the distributor goes into a cast residual pool, plus additional employer contributions to the union’s pension and health plans. Basic cable syndication also uses a gross-receipts percentage formula.
Once the studio puts that 3.6% into the episode’s pool, the money is divided among the credited principal performers who appeared in that specific episode. Rather than splitting the pot equally, the union uses a point system based on each actor’s time worked (such as one-day guest star, three-day performer, or weekly contract) and their initial salary up to a contract ceiling. A series regular who worked the full week gets more units of the 3.6% pool than a guest actor who worked a single day to deliver two lines.
For broadcast syndication deals signed on or before July 1, 2020, episodes continue to pay out under the legacy fixed-run formula for the duration of that license. Under the SAG-AFTRA residuals glossary, a single run on free television occurs when an episode is broadcast once in any city in the US or Canada. The second time it airs in any city starts the second run, the third airing starts the third run, and so on—whether those broadcasts happen in 10 cities or 200 cities.
In fixed-run syndication, each actor’s payout is calculated as a declining percentage of a union base rate or contract ceiling for every new run. As shown in the Writers Guild of America comparative guild tables from 2025, standard fixed-base rerun scales drop steeply as an episode ages:
- Run 2 pays 40% of the applicable base ceiling in syndication (compared to 50% if the rerun airs on a broadcast network).
- Run 3 pays 30% in syndication (40% on a network).
- Runs 4, 5, and 6 pay 25% each.
- Runs 7 through 10 pay 15% each.
- Runs 11 and 12 pay 10% each.
- Run 13 and every subsequent run forever pay 5% each.
Because both the gross-receipts pool and the fixed-run scale shrink as licensing fees drop or run counts climb into the dozens, long-running syndication checks for minor roles eventually dwindle to pocket change. According to a 2024 Backstage report on residuals, rapper 50 Cent noted that he receives just over $16 a year for syndication reruns of his brief animated cameo on The Simpsons. Tiny checks are so common for working character actors that a bar in Studio City, California, called Residuals Tavern became famous for hanging actors’ paper checks on the wall and pouring a free drink for anyone who brings in a residual check worth less than $1.
Why most actors don’t make millions from reruns
The biggest misconception about television syndication is that every regular cast member on a hit sitcom automatically collects millions of dollars a year for the rest of their life. In reality, standard union residuals are strictly capped, and the massive payouts you read about in entertainment news come from a completely different type of deal.
First, standard union residuals are calculated against contract minimums and ceilings, never an actor’s actual negotiated quote. If a famous lead actor is paid $250,000 per episode to shoot a one-hour drama, their union residuals are still capped by the guild’s applicable maximums for that contract cycle. Under the 2023 agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), even employer pension and health contributions on television compensation are capped per episode—at $25,000 for half-hour shows and $35,000 for one-hour shows filmed on or after July 1, 2024. The union also updates its pension and health contribution rates on television residuals by filming date, rising from 21.0% to 22.0% on September 6, 2026.
Second, when lead actors on mega-hits make tens of millions of dollars from off-network syndication, they are collecting backend profit participation (often called backend points or royalties), not just union scale residuals. Backend points are private ownership stakes in the show’s net or gross profits that top-billed stars, creators, and executive producers negotiate individually through their agents and lawyers. A day player, guest star, or supporting actor without backend points receives only the standard union residual share.
Third, the era when the show was filmed matters. SAG actors only won television rerun residuals starting in the 1950s and expanded rules after the 1960 strike. Casts on some early classic shows signed full buyouts: the actors on The Brady Bunch, for example, received nothing from decades of constant syndication reruns after their initial early-run buyouts expired.
When syndication checks arrive and how actors track them
Syndication money does not hit an actor’s bank account the week an episode airs on daytime TV. Union contracts give studios and distributors specific reporting windows based on the medium:
- Broadcast syndication payments for made-for-television shows are due 4 months (120 days) after the airdate, compared to 30 days after the airdate for primetime network reruns.
- Distributor’s gross receipts residuals (including post-2020 broadcast syndication licenses and basic cable) are reported and paid quarterly. Studios must submit payments no later than 60 days after the close of each calendar quarter: May 31, August 30, November 30, and March 1.
- Foreign free television residuals are due within 30 days after the producer learns of the foreign telecast, and never later than 6 months after the first broadcast.
When a payment deadline arrives, the production company or its payroll house calculates the payroll taxes, issues checks made out to each actor, and sends the entire batch of checks and gross-receipts statements to SAG-AFTRA. Union compliance staff audit the paperwork to make sure the studio didn’t underpay the cast, then forward the funds to the performers. Members generally receive their money within 60 days of the date the union receives the producer’s packet, and actors who sign up for direct deposit get paid faster than those waiting on paper checks.
If an actor appeared in several episodes of a syndicated series, or worked on multiple shows owned by the same studio, the payroll company often combines all of that quarter’s earnings into a single consolidated payment known as a mult check, accompanied by a line-by-line voucher showing how many cents or dollars came from each episode.
Frequently asked questions
Do actors still get syndication residuals after they die?
Yes. Under SAG-AFTRA contracts, residuals are an ongoing property right that does not expire when a performer dies. As long as an episode continues to air in syndication and generate revenue, the studio and union continue paying the actor’s designated beneficiaries or legal heirs on the exact same schedule.
Do non-union television shows pay syndication residuals?
No. If a television show is produced outside of a union agreement, the cast has no collective bargaining contract requiring reuse payments. Performers on non-union shows only receive their initial day or week rate unless the producer later signs a union agreement converting the project.
How can actors or heirs find missing residual checks?
Performers often miss paper checks when they move without updating their address with the union and payroll companies. Members and legal beneficiaries can check active payouts by logging into the Residuals Portal on the SAG-AFTRA website, or search the public Unclaimed Residuals database on the union’s site to claim held funds.