English Entertainment
AXN readies two new shows for September
MUMBAI: It is edging towards an image overhaul. From being labeled as the blood and gore channel, it is gradually moved towards being action and adventure channel and is now aiming to carve a niche in the lifestyle segment. With five shows being commissioned for the season, AXN is ready to roll out two shows The Associates and CSI Miami, this month.
Premiering on 12 September, The Associates is a critically acclaimed legal drama, which will air every Friday at 10 pm. A Canadian production, the show that premiered on Canadian TV (CTV) in 2001 delves into the world of politics, nepotism, sexism, jealousy, betrayal and law. It is a story of five young, intelligent and ambitious lawyers who work for a big law firm, Young, Barnsworth & King Associates (YBK).
Starring Mitch Barnsworth, Amy Kassan, Benjamin Hardaway, Jonah Gleason and Robyn Parsons, the show portrays the professional and personal lives of the young and sometimes naive legal professionals.
Rumoured to have taken inspiration from the American legal show West Wing, the show has Hickey playing Robyn Parson, a Texan girl with an unpleasant past, while Benson plays Jonah Gleason, the romantic ally, an idealistic and determined lawyer. Barnes plays Benjamin Hardaway, good-looking and highly intelligent Yale University law, Raymond portrays Amy Kassan as an entrepreneur and fiercely independent lawyer with an estranged father. Hogan stars as Mitch Barnsworth, the charming prodigal great, great grandson of one of the origianl founders of YBK.
Meanwhile, the second season of CSI- CSI Miami, starring NYPD alumni David Caruso and Kim Delaney, will premiere on 17 September, every Wednesday at 10 pm. The show has garnered highest rating of any network drama premiere in the US and is the winner of 2003 People’s Choice award for the favourite television new dramatic series.
Besides two new launches, the channel also has a few events in the pipeline. First to launch is Global Adventure, which premieres on 5 September at 10 pm. Showcasing the world of extreme and adventure sports-filmmaker Warren Miller, Global Adventure is packed with the some of the best footage of skiers, snowboarders and other adrenaline pumping sports.
Next on the agenda is a lifestyle event Passengers, which will air on 10 September at 11 pm every Friday. It highlights the latest trends, events and faces to watch, right from Manhattan socialites to Italian hooligans and Mexican trance dance fans. Each week, viewers will come face to face with the youth culture around the world.
Last on the events calendar is the telecast of the World Stunt Awards on 27 September at 8 pm. Created to recognize and honour the tremendous contributions of stunt performers to modern film experience, celebrities gracing this year’s Taurus World Stunt Awards include Daredevil and Alias star Jennifer Garner, The Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines star and former Honorary Award recipient Arnold Schwarznegger, The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded star Carrie Anne Moss, and The Scorpion King and X-Men 2 star Kelly Hu.
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.
