English Entertainment
FX and FX HD to air ‘House M.D.’
MUMBAI: FX, the English entertainment channel, is known for showcasing some of the most iconic and critically-acclaimed edge-of-seat content. Upping its game this New Year, the channel is all-set to premiere one of the greatest dramas of all time House M.D. Premiering on 13 January 2016; the show will air on FX and FX HD starting with the very first season, Season 1 down to its final Season 8 every day from Monday to Friday at 10 pm.
House M.D. is a highly acclaimed American medical drama television series. Doctor Gregory House played by famous British actor, writer, director, musician, singer, comedian, and author, Hugh Laurie. Prior to House, Hugh Laurie had made his mark as an actor and comedian with Fry & Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster and few big screen appearances including Stuart Little. But it was through House that he skyrocketed to fame. Doctor House is the one and only character on global television who everyone across the world loves to hate. This is because he is brilliant – a pure genius and extremely charming in his own fundamentally arrogant and cranky way. He is not just any ordinary doctor fighting off patients’ illnesses. He takes up medical cases that only prove to be the rarest and most interesting to him. Gregory House is considered to be one of the most well written characters of a television series and House M.D. went on to become the most watched television series globally in 2008. The show won numerous renowned awards including five Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Peabody Award, and nine People’s Choice Awards.
The series trails Doctor House as he leads an elite medical team to solve bizarre illnesses and save lives despite his own constant physical pain. In the series’ first episode of the very first season, Doctor Gregory House and his choicest team of young medical experts rush to save the life of a kindergarten teacher who starts speaking gibberish and passes out in front of her class. What initially looks like a possible case of brain tumour, the patient does not respond to treatment leaving House and his team to engage in a risky trail-and-error approach to her case. Will House be able to find out what is wrong and in time?
English Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount deal
Investors wave through a $111 billion megamerger but deliver a stinging, if toothless, rebuke over half-a-billion-dollar goodbye packages
NEW YORK: The shareholders said yes to the deal. They said no to the cheque. At a virtual special meeting on Thursday that lasted barely ten minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery investors voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of the company — and then turned around and voted against the lavish exit pay packages lined up for chief executive David Zaslav and his fellow outgoing executives.
Not that it will make much difference. The compensation vote is purely advisory and non-binding. The Warner Bros. Discovery board can, and almost certainly will, pay out as planned.
But the symbolism stings. It is the second consecutive year that WBD shareholders have voted against the executive compensation packages, and this time they had good reason. Zaslav’s exit deal is, by any measure, extraordinary. Under the terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is set to receive $34.2 million in cash severance, $517.2 million in equity in the combined company, and $44,195 in continued health coverage — a total of at least $550 million. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on his accelerated stock vesting, though the company says that figure will decline depending on when the deal closes. As of March 11, Zaslav also held $115.85 million in vested WBD stock awards — and last month sold a further $114 million worth of WBD shares.
Shareholder advisory firm ISS recommended voting against the compensation measure, citing “problematic” tax reimbursements to Zaslav and the full vesting of his stock awards.
Zaslav will be bound by a two-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation of customers and employees after the deal closes.
His lieutenants are not walking away empty-handed either. J.B. Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games, is in line for $142 million, comprising $18.2 million in cash severance and $123.9 million in equity. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer, will receive an estimated $121.5 million, including $18.8 million in severance and $102.7 million in equity. Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels is set for $120 million, made up of $6.6 million in cash severance and $113.1 million in equity. Gerhard Zeiler, president of international, will get $82.6 million, including $11.9 million in severance and $70.7 million in equity.
The deal itself, clinched in February after Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros., still needs regulatory clearance from the Justice Department and European authorities. Several state attorneys general are also weighing legal action to block it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unsparing. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn’t a done deal,” she said after the shareholder vote. “State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight.”
If it does go through, the combined entity would be a formidable beast, bringing together Paramount Skydance’s stable — CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, BET, MTV and Nickelodeon — with WBD’s portfolio of HBO, Max, Warner Bros. film and TV studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Paramount has said it expects $6 billion in cost savings from the merger, which is Wall Street shorthand for mass layoffs on a significant scale.
The ten-minute meeting was presided over by chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr., with Zaslav, Campbell, Wiedenfels and chief communications officer Robert Gibbs in virtual attendance. Di Piazza was bullish. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” he said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav echoed the sentiment. “Over the past four years, our teams have transformed Warner Bros. Discovery and returned the company to industry leadership,” he said. “Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders.”
Paramount Skydance struck a similar note. “Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,” it said in a statement, adding that it looked forward to “closing the transaction in the coming months.”
The shareholders have spoken on the merger. On the pay, they were ignored before the vote was even counted.
