English Entertainment
HBO GO now available in app stores in Indonesia with a 7-day free trial
MUMBAI: HBO GO is now available in Indonesia as a standalone service. The streaming app is accessible on HBOGOAsia.com and can be downloaded from the App Store or Play Store for IDR60,000* (approximately US$4) a with a 7-day free trial.
In Indonesia, the app launched in 2019 and continues to be available via Telkomsel’s Maxstream, First Media and IndiHome.
“Thanks to our local distribution partners, the app has already got off to a flying start in Indonesia. Now, consumers have another method of accessing our great content with a free trial and no obligation,” said Clement Schwebig, Managing Director of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, Southeast Asia, Pacific and China, which operates HBO in Asia. “Through HBO GO, viewers can watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster movies and series – as well as Asian content – anytime, anywhere.”
A number of HBO Asia Originals have been filmed in Indonesia, with local cast and crews. For example, award-winning Joko Anwar directed both Halfworlds S1 and Folklore; Reza Rahadian and Arifin Putra star in Halfworlds S1; Adinia Wirasti appears in both Halfworlds S1 and Grisse; and Alexandra Gottardo has roles in Grisse and Food Lore.
HBO GO allows subscribers unlimited access to stream thousands of hours of non-stop and uncut entertainment from the latest first-run Hollywood blockbusters and exclusive original content from HBO, HBO Asia and CINEMAX, to Asian movies, series and all-time favourite kids’ programmes over multiple connected devices.
Within the app, the live TV function can stream six of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks’ channels: HBO, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO HITS, HBO FAMILY, CINEMAX and RED BY HBO. Each HBO GO account can be viewed on two concurrent streams across five registered devices and the service has Airplay and Chromecast functionality.
In Asia, HBO GO is also available in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, and will be launching in even more territories and with new partners soon.
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.
