English Entertainment
Larry Namer of Metan Global Entertainment to get top award at Asian Television Awards
NEW DELHI: Metan Global Entertainment Group president/CEO Larry Namer is to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television award at the 19th Asian Television Awards (ATA) on 11 December at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
An entertainment industry veteran with more than 40 years of professional experience in cable television, live events and digital media, Namer is the founding partner of Metan, a venture created to develop and distribute entertainment content and media specifically for the China market.
He is also the co-founder of E! Entertainment Television, a company now valued at over US$3.5 billion, and the creator of several successful companies, including Comspan Communications that pioneered Western forms of entertainment in the former Soviet Union and Steeplechase Media that served as the primary consultant to Microsoft’s MiTV (Interactive Television).
Metan’s flagship series Hello! Hollywood, a weekly entertainment news series tailored to Chinese audiences, is available on the company’s Hollywood Channel on Tudou. Metan has developed the successful sitcom ‘Return to Da Foo Tsun’ and Web series ‘Modern Life’, which have garnered a viewership of over 40 million viewers.
Recently, Metan and a coalition of North America’s top TV and film writers partnered to launch Metan Wen Zhi Ku, a joint venture linking Western writing talent with transmedia projects for China. Namer is also the co-founder of MINGYIAN INC., a China brand management startup for Western celebrities and influencers.
ATA chairman Raymond Wong said, “ATA is pleased to recognise Larry Namer for his remarkable contributions to the entertainment industry. He has accomplished a great deal, while positively representing the entertainment and digital media industries, and he fully deserves to be honoured for his achievements.”
Meanwhile, Yang Weidong senior VP and president of Tudou.com at Youku Tudou Inc., has joined the Advisory Board. The 10-member board has only one Indian, K V L Narayan Rao of NDTV.
Launched in 1996, ATA is the Asian TV industry’s most significant and celebrated event, recognising excellence in programming, production and performance.
Determined by an expert panel of over 60 judges from across the region, the results are tabulated and audited by international auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, with the winners only announced during the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner in December. The judging process has also been brought into the digital era by being conducted on-line. This is designed to lessen the judging workload and provide judges greater comfort and flexibility by enabling them to screen the entries at their own pace.
The Awards comprise over 30 categories and represent the industry’s foremost recognition by enjoying the support of every major industry player throughout the region. ATA attracts a multitude of entries from a wide range of broadcasters, including free-to-air television stations and pay-TV platforms, as well as many independent production houses in Asia.
ATA is positioned as the only event of its kind within the Asian region, and upholds a prestigious reputation of showcasing quality television production.
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.
