English Entertainment
AXN aims to boost ratings by giving the CIA an image makeover
AXN’s strategy is clear-cut. Build up the action brand through the introduction of innovative programming that caters to both the serious viewer as well as the one who is looking for an escape through adventure. To this end, the channel announced the launch of The Agency. The show on the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s working commences on 2 April at 8 pm and will repeat Wednesdays at 1 pm and 10 pm.
AXN senior marketing manager Rohit Bhandari expressed satisfaction at the way new programmes like Fear Factor and Scariest Places In The World have been faring on the channel since their launch earlier in the year.
On the flip side, Bhandari said that animation series on the channel have not struck a chord with Indian audiences, chiefly because the shows target the 15-21 year age group. In India however animation is perceived to be meant for those in the five to 10 age bracket.
He also said that one of the channel’s major properties of the year was World Stunt Awards. The event is scheduled to take place on 19 May in the US and is being developed by the channel in conjunction with US network ABC.
Bhandari said the channel would continue building the brand through alliances with action-oriented movies released in theatres. AXN promotes films not only from the Sony stables but also other film companies like Twentieth Century Fox, Bhandari said. The two parties promoted the war film Behind Enemy Lines and will team up again for Ali with Oscar-nominated Will Smith in the title role.
The channel is planning to have a multi discipline adventure race towards the end of the year. Targeted at corporate executives who work long hours the event will see disciplines like rock climbing and swimming taking place over the weekend.
Speaking about The Agency, Bhandari said the idea is to change the perception people have about the CIA. That the stories bear more than a passing resemblance to real life goings on can be gauged by the fact that the pilot episode about Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network planning to bomb the famous department store Harrods in London was dropped after the events of 11 September. Interestingly, the pilot was made in May lending credence to the belief that the CIA was well aware of the threat the terrorist outfit posed to America and anyone who allied itself to the country.
“Drama series like The Agency are peerless and are what water cooler conversations are all about,” Bhandari said.
Apart from The Agency another new show which will commence is called Queen of Swords from 4 April at 8 pm. The title character Tessa Alvorado could be considered a female Zorro. Like her male counterpart she is an expert in the art of sword fighting. The second season of Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) starts on 1 April at 8 pm.
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.
