English Entertainment
‘Fun Republic’ recruiting in Mumbai, Ahmedabad
NEW DELHI: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the banner under which the new coalition government has been formed in Delhi, today announced the adoption of a common minimum programme (CMP) that pledges to take the lead in introducing the Women’s Reservation Bill, repeal a controversial anti-terrorist law, POTA, and encourage foreign investment in certain sectors. But, surprisingly, unlike its predecessor, the UPA is silent on media and entertainment.
The nearest that the CMP comes to media, if it can be called that, is a passing mention to information technology where it is stated, “UPA government will set up a National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council to provide a continuing forum for policy dialogue to energise and sustain the growth of manufacturing industry like food processing, textiles, engineering, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, capital goods, leather, and IT hardware.”
At the beginning of its tenure, the National Democratic Alliance government, which was voted out of power in the recent general elections in India, had made its mind clear on the media industry in its common minimum agenda by stating that it was not in favour of permitting more than 20 per cent foreign investment in certain sectors of the media, including KU-band direct-to-home television services.
Though there was no mention of opening up the news sector in both the print and the electronic media to foreign investment, the previous government actually went ahead and formulated guidelines in this regard. In that way, the NDA government could be termed as having taken historic decisions by upturning a cabinet decision of 1956 that banned any foreign investment in the news sector of the print medium with the exception of Reader’s Digest..
Though the UPA government’s silence on media has taken the industry by surprise, by and large, political observers explain this as an indicator of the importance the present government attaches to the media and entertainment sector. However, the flip side of this criticism may be that since there are not very many important policy decisions to be taken in the field of media, the CMP has refrained from making any unnecessary mention of this sector.
Meanwhile, coming back to UPA’s common minimum programme, it sticks mainly to the promises made before the elections. For example, on the key issue of disinvestment — pursued aggressively by the previous government — the ruling alliance made it clear that profit-making public sector undertakings would not be privatised. It has also resolved, amongst other things, to generate more employment and take steps to ensure growth of the economy by at least 7-8 per cent annually over a decade.
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.
