English Entertainment
Comedy Central updates Diwali schedule; adds films
MUMBAI: Comedy Central is all geared to take the viewers on a laughter riot with its new line-up. In a first of its kind initiative, the channel, apart from its remarkable shows, will air stunning movies. Apart from all-time-favorites-F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Mom, Community, The Mindy Project, Awkward, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon- shows like The Detour, Crowded, Man with a Plan, The Great Indoors, etc will be also be added to the line-up.
New seasons will be added for the shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dr. Ken, and The Graham Norton Show.
CC Blockbustered, the channel’s movie slot, has an electrifying movie line-up with Grown Ups 2, The Ugly Truth, Sleepless in Seattle, Anger Management, Bewitched, etc. The films would air on Sunday afternoons 12 pm onwards, with a primetime repeat at 9 pm.
“We have received terrific responses from our viewers in the past, proving time and again, that Comedy Central is, in fact, their Happy Place! We’ve decided to enter October with some fantastic watch with the world shows and some all-time favorites. We’ve also decided to amplify our engagement with our viewers through their most loved movies. By introducing these blockbusters in our line-up, we aim to continue to spread more happiness and cheer,” said Viacom18 youth and English entertainment head of programming Hashim D’Souza.
The channel will air the fourth season of cop show Brooklyn Nine-Nine on 1 October at 8 pm followed by second season of Dr Ken, a multi camera sitcom based on his experience as a doctor prior to becoming a stand-up comedian at 8:30 pm. The 20th season of The Graham Norton Show, a British comedy celebrity chat show will be aired on 8 October at 10 pm. Matt LeBlanc’s comedy series Man with a Plan will be premiered on 29 October at 9 pm. Following that will be Joel McHales’ The Great Indoors which is based around the online team of so-called journalists at 9:30 pm.
The on-road comedy series The Detour will be premiered on 5 October at 10 pm, while the American sitcom Crowded will be broadcasted on 14 October at 10.30 pm. The Mindy Project season 1 to 4 will be makes its way back to the channel and will be premiered from 19 October 9 pm. Season 1-5 of Awkward will be aired at 9:30 pm whereas The Jim Gaffigan Show will air at 10 pm.
The channel’s festival special programming for Diwali will be celebrated with shows like The Carmichael Show on 29 and 30 October 4 pm onwards. Its Halloween special is wacked with the entire third season of Deadbeat on 31 October 10 am onwards.
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.
