English Entertainment
Hallmark aims to expand reach, outlines marketing strategy
Consolidate distribution, increase reach and brand visibility through aggressive marketing. That is the target that general entertainment English channel Hallmark has set for itself in India this calendar year.
We will increase brand awareness in the key cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Calcutta through mass media campaigns, says Laxmi Hariharan, marketing director, Hallmark Asia. A media mix of outdoors, cinema, websites, radio, and print are the off-television promotional activities that are involved.
The channel’s initiatives are already having an impact and this can be seen in the fact that the cumulative reach of the channel has increased by 60 per cent since January, says Hariharan.
Hariharan says the channel is adopting a two-tier strategy by promoting the mother brand and creating event-specific programmes. Towards this end, Hallmark has earmarked $1.2 million this year for advertising and promotions.
The channel’s initiatives are already having an impact and this can be seen in the fact that the cumulative reach of the channel has increased by 60 per cent since January, says Hariharan.
Hariharan says the channel is adopting a two-tier strategy by promoting the mother brand and creating event-specific programmes. Towards this end, Hallmark has earmarked $1.2 million this year for advertising and promotions.
On the programming front, the channel has a three point plan that it is confident will deliver the desired results – original series, television movies and Hollywood blockbuster titles.
Distribution is another area where Hallmark hopes to increase its numbers. From the current 9 million across 18 cities, the channel expects to hit 12 million by the end of the year, Hallmark India general manager Amitabh says. Queried as to the kind of subscription revenues the channel had, Amitabh said last year it was $500,000 and he expected it to reach $ 600,000 this year.
Leading the way for Hallmark on the ad sales front is Mediascope Associates. According to Rohinton Maloo, managing director, Mediascope, revenues close to $1 million is what he is targeting. This is a five-fold jump from last year where the channel raked in just $ 200,000. Queried as to how he could so confidently state this would happen when the fight for a share of the ad pie was becoming increasingly stressful, Maloo says ad revenues of $ 200,000 had been achieved with practically no worthwhile effort. A focussed strategy would bring in increased much more ad revenue, is Maloo’s contention.
And there are new product categories opening up every year – insurance, premium cars, technology and many more. There is enough to sustain niche channels such as Hallmark, says Maloo.
The channel intends to package not just on-air opportunities but the significant on-ground strength of over 430 Hallmark Card stores in India, says Maloo. These stores, says Maloo, can be used for demo and on-ground promotions.
One unique feature that Hallmark can offer to advertisers thanks to its ownership of 80 per cent of the content that appears on the channel is “virtual product placement”, says Maloo. This means that after a particular movie or series has already been shot, the advertiser is offered an option where he can digitally insert his product during relevant scenes. He cited examples of Samsung in Latin America, Visa card in the US and Coke in the Asia Pacific.
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.
