English Entertainment
Season 6 of sensational show Game of Thrones comes to an end
MUMBAI: The most anticipated Season 6 of the world’s greatest show – Game of Thrones finally draws to a close! With the show having captivated people’s attention this season with its detail-oriented story-lines and complex plot building, Star World Premiere HD, India’s leading English entertainment channel is all set to showcase the show’s grand finale episode this Tuesday, June 28th at 10 PM!
After the heroic penultimate episode ‘The Battle of The Bastards’ where the Starks defeated Ramsay Bolton, viewers’ excitement levels have risen to new heights as the show producers recently revealed the finale will be the longest episode in the series history. The season started with a bang – Jon Snow’s revival, Daenerys seizing control over the Dothraki yet again, Arya in the House of Black and White learning some kickass assassination skills, Bran taking audiences through a journey back in time when Lyanna Stark lived and Ned Stark was a young lad, Sansa escaping Ramsay’s cruel reign, The Hound’s resurrection, Benjen Stark’s appearance and so much more!
Now with Sansa Stark and Jon Snow having defeated Ramsay, Rickon Stark and Hodor dead, Daenerys back to Mereen and under the aid of Tyrion Lannister, Cersei Lannister and Loras Tyrell’s trial up and coming, Petyr Baelish showing up to save the Starks in the Battle of the Bastards, unfinished conversations between Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, Game of Thrones Season 6 has whetted the appetite of fans all the more!
Speaking of all the action and thrill packed in the finale episode, director of episode 9 ‘Battle of the Bastards and now the finale episode, ‘The Winds of Winter’, Miguel Sapochnik said, “It feels equally as epic as episode 9 … but for completely different reasons.”
Everything changed with the previous episode of Game of Thrones ‘The Battle of the Bastards’. Best of all, Sansa was proclaimed a hero after being brutalized and tormented for all the previous seasons and Sophie Turner who plays the role of Sansa expressed that she deserved her first kill! Sophie said, “It’s amazing. It’s Sansa’s first kill and it’s such a strong moment for her because all her life she’s been affected by these men who have just done such terrible things to her. She’s always carried it with her and this is the first moment you hear her say this dialogue ‘Your words will disappear. Your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear.’”
With the finale billed to be the biggest yet, fans are hoping that the ample time that the series will take, will be utilized to tie all the loose ends and set the scene for the premiere of the next big season!
Whatever happened to Dorne? And the Tyrells and the Greyjoys?
The phenomenon that has gripped the world shall reach its crescendo in India on Star World Premiere HD this Tuesday, June 28th as the drama, action and mystery unfolds on Game of Thrones’ Mega Finale Episode ‘The Winds of Winer’!
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.
