English Entertainment
Warner looks to take digital distribution of entertainment in Europe to the next level
MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has announced the formation of a joint venture with arvato mobile in Europe called In2Movies
This is a digital download platform for the electronic sell-through of motion picture and television content in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. In2Movies will leverage the speed and flexibility of a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network and the security and quality of a centralized service to provide consumers with the ultimate legal entertainment downloading experience.
In2Movies will be the first P2P-based download-to-own platform to offer consumers legitimate content day-and-date with the German language DVD release. With the initial rollout, consumers will be able to download movies and television shows to their personal computers. The second version of the service will expand on consumers’ download options and enable them to download programs to DVD recorders and other portable devices.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara says, “Through this partnership with arvato mobile, Warner Bros will be breaking new ground in legal digital delivery, providing a rich experience at affordable prices. One of the most effective weapons for defeating online piracy is providing legal, easy to use alternatives. Warner Bros. continues its role as an industry leader by expanding the reach of its digital content through this extremely innovative platform. Our initial efforts will focus on the German market but in the months ahead we will leverage this technology to better serve markets around the world.”
In2Movies will launch next month and will initially feature more than 80 Warner Bros. new releases, catalogue favourites and local productions. The movies and television series offered on a non-exclusive basis will include Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Must Love Dogs, The O.C., Friends and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In2Movies will also feature entertainment programming from local distributors and third-party content providers. Consumers will be able to download programming directly from the In2Movies website, or via a click-through from other websites and also from retail partner websites powered by In2Movies.
arvato mobile CEO Bernhard Ribbrock says, “With In2Movies, consumers can download films or TV shows with guaranteed speed, efficiency and quality through our proprietary technology. Consumers are seeking new channels for finding authourised entertainment and this relationship signifies arvato’s entry into the motion picture download business; we would not have done so without a great partnership with the industry’s leading innovator, Warner Home Video.”
In Germany during the first half of 2005, 1.7 million Internet users illegally downloaded a total of 11.9 million movies. Research has shown that 20 per cent of illegal downloaders do so on a weekly basis. However, 73 per cent of all illegal downloaders in Germany are interested in utilising a paid for movie download service. In2Movies will offer consumers exactly that legal option and will provide a high quality and reliable service.
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.
