English Entertainment
Animal Planet ends the year with a best of package
MUMBAI: As 2004 comes to a close Animal Planet will feature a two hour special series on the best that it had to showcase for the year.
This will air from 27 December to 31 December at 8 pm.. The series will include 12 of the broadcaster’s highest rated programmes.
Viewers can savour both international and India-specific programmes, offering stories on wildlife mysteries, animals addictions, human intervention and its damaging consequences, and even animal entrapments.
The series will also showcase episodes by animal experts, including David Attenboroughs programme on polar bears, Jeff Corwins encounters in Ranthambhore and Gujarat and John Downers celebration of animals’ inventiveness and ingenuity, informs a media release.
Discovery Networks India VP programming Pankaj Saxena said, “Best of Animal Planet is a consequence of the incessant demand made by Indian viewers. It is a compilation of our best shows of the year, from highly acclaimed documentaries to wildlife reality TV and animal soap drama. The series is extremely entertaining while at the same time also provoking a debate on invasion of animal privacy.”
The shows that will air in this block include
On the Edge: Crocodile Hunter Diaries Working with Legends on 27 December at 8 pm. The programme chronicles life behind the scenes at an Australian Zoo, presenting amazing animal adventures and the zoo staffs daily encounters.
The Jeff Corwin Experience: India on 27 December at 9:30 pm: Jeff Corwin travels from Ranthambhore to Gujarat to encounter the near-extinct Bengal Tiger and the Asiatic Lion. Between these two riveting encounters, Jeff meets fascinating people and encounters other animals, including the King Cobra and the Soft-Shell Turtle.
Animal Planet Reveals Asia: The Life of Birds: To Fly Or Not To Fly 29 December at 8 pm. Perhaps the most popular and perfectly adapted life forms on earth, Animal Planet presents dramatic images of birds, illustrating the latest research on their enduring survival spirit.
Temple of the Tigers on 30 December at 9 pm: Temple of the Tigers is a remarkable story of a group of ten monks who have taken on the task of protecting tigers by offering them a home within the walls of their temple. This programme explores each monks life and their one-of-a-kind relationship with tigers.
The Most Extreme on 31 December at 9 pm. This looks at how the best and worst of the human world stacks up against the residents of the animal kingdom. The journey to find the answer, however, is far from straightforward – the path twists between natural history, science, history and trivia.
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.
