NICKELODEON TO FORK OVER $11 MILLION TO WRITERS

Writers who have worked on Nickelodeon’s kid shows such as the popular SpongeBob SquarePants and iCarly, are $11 million richer today, after the Viacom-owned cable channel agreed to fork over that amount in withheld residuals to the Writers Guild of America, which is distributing it to the writers. Last March, the WGA began to press its claims in earnest against the channel, alleging an “egregious, ongoing failure to pay residuals on a timely basis.” Guild President Chris Keyser and Executive Director David Young said that the last of the unpaid residuals is now being distributed. Just as important, Nickelodeon appears to have changed its practices and is currently making efforts to pay residuals on time,” they said.