English Entertainment
WWE to undertake 8 international tours next year
CONNECTICUT- The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced its international live event tour schedule for 2003. The eight tours will visit five continents and include visits to countries such as Australia, Brazil, Chile, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand.
As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com the WWE will tour India for the first time in six years next month. Two of the stars are expected to pay a visit next week to generate awareness about the event. Ten Sports will be the broadcast partner for the event. This will mark the culmination of its international tour calendar for the year amounting to 15 events in all. Next year the organisation expects to double live events held in international territories. The WWE held just two international live events last year. Additional international touring helped to provide a 42 per cent increase in international revenues in fiscal year 2002 which were $31.4 million.
The first tour for 2003 will be The WWE Far East Tour January 2003.. Events will be held at the Jamsil Basketball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea on 23 January and the National Yoyogi Stadium (No. 1 Gymnasium), Tokyo on 24 and 25 January. Other tours tentatively scheduled for later next year will be:
— a February tour of South Africa, with stops in Johannesburg, Durban and CapeTown
— a May tour of South America, with events in Mexico, Chile and Brazil
— a June tour of Europe, with stops in France, Italy, Scotland and England
— a July tour of Asia, including events in Thailand and Japan
— an August tour of Australia, with events in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne
— an October tour of Europe, with events in Germany and the United Kingdom
— a December tour of Asia, with stops in Japan, Singapore and Australia .
WWE Executive VP International Business Development Roger Marment said, ” We could not undertake this type of international touring schedule without the brand extension that established two separate touring companies representing our RAW and SmackDown! television brands. Television and live events represent the backbone of our business and drive the success of our consumer product, home entertainment and wireless and digital initiatives.”
In addition, new licensing agreements have been forged in the Pacific Rim and the United Kingdom as a result of interest piqued by expanded international touring, and the increasing international popularity of WWE television programming, which can be seen in more than130 countries.
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.
