English Entertainment
20th Century Fox signs digital distribution deal with Movielink
MUMBAI: Marking a major milestone for the digital distribution of movies, the US-based broadband video-on-demand (VOD) service provider Movielink has signed a distribution agreement with 20th Century Fox.
This landmark deal underscores industry-wide recognition of Movielink as a leader and the arrival of broadband as a viable distribution channel for movies.
“Our deal with Fox marks a very significant step forward for Movielink and the movie industry,” Movielink CEO Jim Ramo said. “Broadband VOD is proving to be a viable distribution platform for delivering premium content, and we are pleased that Fox supports our vision of bringing consumers a wide selection of movies on demand.”
With the addition of Fox’s films, Movielink is the first broadband VOD service to offer titles from all major studios, including Walt Disney Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Studios, states an official release.
“Fox is constantly looking for legitimate digital distribution outlets that extend the entertainment experience in ways which offer greater choice and flexibility to the consumer. We are excited about the opportunity to work with Movielink and its growing customer base of broadband households,” Fox’s president of Worldwide Pay Television and Digital Media Peter Levinsohn said.
Movielink will add Fox titles to its library of more than 1,200 movies. The first Fox titles to be available on Movielink include the CG-animated movie Robots and the horror film Hide And Seek. Other titles to be offered on Movielink over the next several months include Kingdom of Heaven, Millions, Melinda and Melinda, Fantastic Four, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Roll Bounce, Rebound and Transporter 2.
Movielink is available to U.S. Internet users with broadband connections. Consumers can easily browse Movielink’s user-friendly site and view trailers of available titles without charge. Once customers are ready to rent a title, they register with Movielink and pay for their rental via credit card. Movielink’s Movies in Minutes feature lets customers begin watching titles within 2-10 minutes, or store them for up to 30 days and experience unlimited viewing for any 24-hour period. Customers can also use Movielink’s MultiPlay (TM) feature to re-rent titles for additional 24-hour viewing periods for up to 30 days after the initial rental, the release adds.
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.
