English Entertainment
Star World brings the brand new season of ‘MasterChef Australia’
MUMBAI: Star World and Star World HD, is all set to up the ante this summer, offering viewers a culinary extravaganza with the brand new season of MasterChef Australia. The most loved culinary show in the world returns with its 8 season and, for the first time ever, will air right after its international telecast exclusively on Star World and Star World HD from 9 May onwards, Mon-Fri at 9 PM.
Over the years, MasterChef Australia has not only entertained audiences with beautiful food and compelling stories but has also inspired and exposed hundreds of Indians to a food revolution. Today, home cooks are motivated to pursue their food dreams and people, in general, are more open to experimenting with gourmet food and terminologies in their daily lives. Gourmet words have now become an everyday parlance and stemming from this consumer insight, Star World has created a 360 degree marketing campaign based on the proposition Everyone is Speaking Gourmet with MasterChef Australia. This proposition will be carried across all platforms of the campaign including on-air, outdoor, print, digital and cinema.
Star World and Star World HD kick-started the campaign with on-air promotions created locally to bring out the gourmet connect with Indian audiences. The channels will also create engaging content elements around the new season like #SpeakGourmet that will comprise of short promos on the A-Z of food terminologies. Being a flagship property for Star World, the show will be heavily promoted across the Star Network.
Celebrated food writer and MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston said, “MasterChef Australia has created food connoisseurs over the world. To know that MasterChef Australia has encouraged and motivated viewers across the world to not only cook better but also live better is a huge testimony to its popularity. Having visited India multiple times, I am elated and humbled at how popular the show and we are with fans. Here’s to another scintillating and inspiring season!”
Talking about the upcoming season, renowned chef and MasterChef Australia judge Gary Mehigan said, “I’m extremely proud to be associated with a show like MasterChef Australia that, over the years, has become one of the best apprenticeships offered across the world. I am aware of the huge fan following the show enjoys in India and I’m hoping we can inspire even more home cooks in India with the new season.”
Chef and judge George Calombaris known for his catchy phrases added, “MasterChef Australia is back with a new season that is ready to push more boundaries with never-seen-before food and talent. We are excited to see the level of creativity and skill that the new contestants bring to the table under the tutelage of our esteemed mentors this year. We are ready to boom-boom shake the room!”
Speaking on the occasion, a Star spokesperson said, “MasterChef Australia is one of the most iconic brands in the world of food and television across the world. Over the years, Star World has become home to MasterChef Australia in India. The show has changed the way food is perceived in our country and the audience has come to love the concept and the judges. We are eagerly awaiting the new season and are certain audiences will be captivated by the contestants, food, judges and mentors. This year, we have also gone one step further by offering the latest season right after its international airing exclusively on Star World and Star World HD.”
Winner of the Logie Award, MasterChef Australia follows the journey of ordinary home-cooks as they showcase their extraordinary cooking ability. This year, the new season returns not only with beloved judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston but also with chefs extraordinaire Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Nigella Lawson.
MasterChef Australia season 8 is powered by Usha Coldpress Juicers and Indiagate Basmati Rice, partnered by Cornitos with associate sponsors Nivea Protect & Care, Ola MICRO, Gillette Venus and Kohler.
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.
