English Entertainment
English entertainment & movie channels’ line-up this New Year
MUMBAI: Taking the Christmas cheer into the New Year, which will be sprinkled with splendid celebrations across every corner of the world, English entertainment and movie channels have also gone that extra mile to wind up 2015 for its viewers.
What’s in store for viewers are power packed shows and movies as a New Year treat. As we bid farewell to 2015, those who are staying put at home in front of the television on New Year’s eve as well as the first day of 2016, here’s what lined up for that extra doze of enjoyment in terms of movies and shows across English channels.
Read on:
AXN
The English entertainment channel will enthral viewers with its midnight marathon by airing the sixth season of Sex and the City on 1 and 2 January, 2016 as the New Year special programming from 12 am to 5 am.
The channel will also telecast the first season of Limitless on 1 January from 11 am to 8 pm. The show portrays a man who gains the ability to use the full extent of his brain’s capabilities.
Colors Infinity
The recently launched English entertainment channel will air Mr. Robot on 31 December, 2015 starting from 2 pm all day long. Elliot Alderson is a young cyber-security engineer living in New York, who assumes the role of a vigilante hacker by night. Elliot meets a mysterious anarchist known as Mr. Robot who recruits Elliot to join his team of hackers, named ‘fsociety.’
Comedy Central
The year-end will showcase the best of comedy aired on Comedy Central throughout 2015. The channel will air season 1 of Mom, an award winning mother-daughter comedy on 31 December, 2015 from 6 pm to 8 pm. The show follows the story of single mom Christy played by Anna Faris and her battle against alcoholism and drug abuse.
The channel will also air season 3 of Citizen Khan from 8 pm to 10 pm. The story revolves around a family after it arrives back from a trip to Pakistan, Mr Khan’s mother-in-law announces she wants to move into a home. When Sam, the head of a local care centre arrives, Mr Khan is over-the-moon. That is, until he discovers the mother-in-law may be worth some money. With the help of son-in-law-to-be Amjad, a ridiculous disguise and a spying mission, Mr Khan tries to stop naani moving out at all costs.
FX
FX, for the very first time in India will premiere a funny yet terrifying prank show, Scare Tactics on 1 January at 8 pm. Scare Tactics is a hidden camera prank show that puts victims into terrifying situations, usually involving movie-style special effects and makeup that recreates horror movie clichés. The victims, generally four per episode, are set up by friends and/or family in tandem with the producers.
The channel will also premiere The X-Files – Essential Collection, starting from 1 – 28 January, 2016 every Monday to Friday at 11 pm. The series will consist of 20 selected episodes from previous seasons of The X Files personally chosen and curated by original series creator, Chris Carter along with some never-seen-before footage as a build-up to the all-new miniseries of the cult sci-fi show releasing in 2016!
Movies Now
Movies Now, as part of 100 Mania, will air Man of Steel at 9 pm on 31 December. The channel will also add an extra element of excitement for its viewers by giving out an iPhone 6S as a prize on the day.
Additionally, MN+ will treat its viewers by premiering Kate Winslet’s Little Chaos at 9 pm on New Year’s Eve.
The channel will also hold the mega-premiere of the Hollywood comedy, That Awkward Moment on 1 January at 11 pm. The movie stars Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller, and is written and directed by Tom Gormican.
The movie revolves around three best friends and the turmoil’s of their relationships, which results in them deciding to stay single and enjoy life. Things however change when the boys Jason, Daniel and Mikey start juggling their single life with their romantic interest as things get really awkward for them to handle.
Romedy Now
The channel will add to the joy of New Year by airing the widely loved show How I Met Your Mother all day long from 9 am to 9 pm. The channel will also premiere She’s Funny That Way at 9 pm.
Star Movies
The channel is all geared up with an exciting line-up of best of Hollywood movies this New Year. The channel for its 31 December schedule will air Exodus: Gods and Kings at 1 pm followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes at 5 pm. Next in line is Real Steel, which will be aired at 7 pm followed by Titanic at 9 pm.
On 1 January, the channel will premiere X-Men at 2 pm followed with Fantastic Four at 4 pm. X2: X-Men United will see its broadcast at 6 pm with X-Men: Days of Future Past scheduled next.
Star Movies Select HD
Star Movies Select HD will air a few blockbuster hits on 31 December starting with Tangled at 5 pm followed by Wall Street at 7 pm. The next in line is The Bourne Supremacy at 9 pm and Gone Girl at 11 pm.
The channel, for its 1 January treat, will air movies like Mary Poppins at 11 am followed by The Grand Budapest Hotel at 1 pm. The heart-warming movie, Fault in our Stars will be telecast at 5 pm. Viewers will also be able to enjoy other movies like Remember the Titans at 7 pm, Snow White and the Huntsmen at 9 pm and Alan Partridge: The Movie at 11 pm.
Star World Premiere HD
The channel has lined up a row of special programming reflecting the spirit of celebration called, Mad Hatter’s Party. The party will begin on 31 December from 12 pm onwards with season 1 of Muppets. The show includes characters Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Waldorf, Rowlf the Dog, Bobo the bear and many more as the cast.
The Muppets serves as a parody of other mockumentary-style series, such as Modern Family, Parks and Recreation andThe Office, by employing the same single-camera setup filming style with the implication of a documentary crew filming everyone.
The channel will also air season 7 of Modern Family on 1 January at 12 pm. The show known for its crazy antics among the members of the Dunphy and Pritchett families follows their daily lives as they deal with ups and downs in hilarious ways just like modern-day families in real-life who encounter various situations every day.
Star World
Star World and Star World HD, following an online poll asking viewers to pick the show they’d like to watch, will air back-to-back episodes of Two Broke Girls on 31 December and 1 January from 12 pm onwards. The poll, #YouPickTheShow wherein the channel had asked the users to vote for their favourite show was conducted via Star World’s digital properties and the choices given to the viewers were: Two and a Half Men season 12, Two Broke Girlsseason 4 and Melissa & Joey season 4.
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.
