English Entertainment
Hallmark going the subscription route to grow
MUMBAI: This is surely a first of a kind move on Indian television. English general entertainment channel Hallmark has decided to do away with advertisements completely and rely only on subscription.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com this afternoon Hallmark India GM Amitabh said that the decision had been taken earlier this year not just for India but also for the Asia Pacific region. “This is one way we can differentiate ourselves. Viewers will hopefully stay longer with us as they see films and shows without a break. At the same time other channels are in a rush to attract advertisers. We are targetting a 15 per cent growth in revenue this year. One has to keep in mind the fact that the Cas mess set us back quite a bit on the subscription front.”
It must be noted that Hallmark never had many ads to begin with. In the not too distant past during each break this writer does not remember seeing more than three ads at a time. So while it is certainly a unique move one doubts as to whether not taking ads will make much difference in India at least.
Amitabh further added that Hallmark would stay on the Modi platform. While a few channels in the past had jumped ship he denied that it had affected distribution efforts. The price of the channel will stay the same.
As far as content is concerned Amitabh said that the channel would be building up its comedy repertoire with Bewitched. The show will air every Tuesday at 4 pm from 15 June.
The show deals with a young married woman who is in a tug of war situation. On the one hand her witchy mother keeps haressing her to return to her witcherly ways. The mother is a witch of the old school who doesn’t go for any universality between mortals and her world. On the other hand the woman loves her family.
Should Samantha give up witchcraft completely for a whole year–no tricks at all — she could become a mortal herself. It may be recalled that Sony’s local version of the show Meri Biwi Wonderful sank without a trace. One can only hope that viewers will be more involved with the original.
Hallmark is certainly trying to get in more variety into its programme line up and not merely rely on the sentimental stuff. In July it will start airing the gritty crime series The District. Despite having over 30 law enforcement agencies, Washington DC still has the highest crime rate in the US. With politics and indifference being a large factor in this, the city hires Newark PD Chief Jack Mannion played by Craig T. Nelson.
The movie-quoting, lounge-singing former NYPD transit cop claims he can and has successfully in the past cut a city’s crime rate in half with his get-with-it-or-report-to-meter-maid-duty attitude. Nelson’s character takes over as commissioner of the DC Police.
One thing that Hallmark will not be doing is going the dubbing route like AXN and HBO. As Amitabh pointed out dubbing makes more sense for action oriented fare. There the sound and visual effects take precedence over dialogue and character.
Watch this space for more news on the channel.
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.
