English Entertainment
Singapore TV personality Allan Wu to host AXN’s Amazing Race Asia edition
MUMBAI: One of the action oriented AXN’s biggest on ground initiatives for this year is The Amazing Race Asia. Like its American counterpart, the reality show will see contestants from different Asian countries running from one location to another on specified modes of transport to emerge as a winner and get $100,000.
The host of the show will be Singapore-based TV personality Allan Wu. He has in the past participated in the US reality series Fear Factor which also airs on AXN. As had been reported a few months ago by indiantelevision.com, over 1,000 teams had applied to participate in the race.
As a marketing initiative, AXN will conduct a series of road shows in the region to engage the public. AXN will be holding the Amazing Race Fan Tour from July to October. The places it will visit are Delhi on 8 October, Korea on 8 July, Bangkok on 5 August, Singapore on 26 August, Kuala Lumpur on 9 September and Manila on 30 September.
AXN says that it was searching for a host that could not only relate to various Asian cultures but who would be able to keep up with the intense physical demands of the race.
SPE Networks Asia GM Ricky Ow says, “Having participated in another world-class TV show, Allan Wu understands what it takes to be the host of The Amazing Race Asia. He embodies the spirit of AXN and The Amazing Race Asia. As a big fan of The Amazing Race, Allan will be able to give interesting insight to the Asian version of this hit reality show.
“And it doesn’t hurt that Allan is easy on the eyes. His good looks and natural charisma will offer a different appeal from the US version, and will definitely ‘Wu’ new fans for The Amazing Race Asia.”
AXN has also announced a raft of sponsors for the event. They are Malaysia Tourism and Promotion Board, and the regional sponsors are: Official Camera Partner – Sony Electronics Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd, Official Airline Partner – AirAsia, Caltex, MSN, Official Mobile Partner – Nokia, and Official Hospitality Partner – Bintan Lagoon Resort and Bintan Resorts. Ford is a local sponsor.
Production on The Amazing Race Asia finished last month. Post-production work will shortly commence and the show will air in 13 episodes across Asia later in the year.
Each team comprises of two people with a pre-existing relationship like husband – wife, mother – daughter.
As with the US version, participants will be perpetually guessing their next destination as venturing into the unknown has always been the entertaining hallmark of the show. This sense of the unknown puts everyone on a level playing field.
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.
