English Entertainment
Romedy Now launches #FurrentinesDay film, garners 1.5 mn views
MUMBAI: This year, celebrate Valentine Day with a furry twist on Romedy Now. The channel has launched a unique property- #FurrentinesDay, to celebrate Valentine’s with animals – pets and abandoned stray friends. This property has been launched in association with Cat Café Studio and People for Animals with an aim to help animals get a merrier and furrier future.
The on-ground event for this unique initiative took place at Cat Cafe Studio in Andheri. The event dazzled in the presence of famous celebrities, Richa Chadda, Zareen Khan, culinary chef and well known author Maria Goretti and famous wrestler Sangram Singh.
The integrated campaign on TV and social media started from 1 February 2017 with a series of videos, celebrity bytes, animal profiles and trivia on social media. The campaign received support and tremendous response on social media with the #FurrentinesDay launch film garnering 1.5 million views on Facebook within 48 hours.
Romedy Now will pay its ultimate tribute to animals by launching a beautiful #FurrentinesDay film starring singer and actor Meiyang Chang. The film will be launched on 14 February across all Romedy Now platforms – on air, digital and social media.
Additionally, well known faces like John Abraham, Meneka Gandhi, Singer Shaan, Jackky Bhagnani, Ali Fazal, Sunny Leone, Sophie Chaudary, Tara Sharma and many more shared the video to their followers and put out their video bytes in support of the initiative.
Chadda said, “It’s great that Romedy Now has taken this responsibility of spreading awareness about animal welfare because channels like these can reach a wider target audience. I personally love cats and I am happy to be associated with #FurrentinesDay as I feel everyone deserves love on Valentines – humans and animals alike! One of the aims of the initiative is to find loving homes for these homeless indigenous species of cats.”
Khan added, “It’s every individual’s responsibility to make sure that no living being is ill-treated, be it humans or animals. I love cats and I feel deeply for them as they can’t ask for what they need and as human I feel we should be sensitive towards them. I’m glad to be here and associating with Romedy Now for this cause has been really worthwhile. I want to tell everyone that please support this initiative of #Furrentine’sDay and show some love to these animals.”
Goretti said, “Animals are our best companions and it is our responsibility to take care of them. My children love animals and they feel happy around them and therefore I am happy that I could support #FurrentinesDay – a unique initiative by Romedy Now that goes beyond just loving humans. Animals are dependent on us and I want to take this platform to tell people that we need to look beyond our own interests and help these little creatures live a healthy life.”
Singh, who was brand ambassador of People For Animals said, “I want to thank Romedy Now for taking up this initiative. We must care for animals just like we care for our children because they are also like children. They are one of us and we need to treat them well. They are more loyal than humans and give us unconditional love! I come from a small town where we take special care of animals. I would like to take this opportunity to support this initiative and spread awareness.”
Viewers and fans, as a part of the digital campaign, can tweet about their love for animals by using the hashtag #FurrentinesDay! For every tweet received, Romedy Now will make a contribution to Cat Café Studio and People For Animals to help the cause of animal welfare. The campaign has received over 2500 tweets so far and is still counting.
On 14 February 2017, Romedy Now will go on a Valentine’s Day date with its furry friends at Cat Café Studio. The channel’s Facebook page will live stream the V Day party and celebrations from there.
On television, Romedy Now has lined up special movies on 12 February to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Films like Marmaduke, 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians, Cats and Dogs, Beverly Hills Chihuahua & Princess Diary will be aired all day.
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.
