English Entertainment
‘The Tara Sharma Show’ gets set to discuss parenting on Star World
MUMBAI: While parenthood is a beautiful phase, it comes with its own set of challenges. A new upcoming show, The Tara Sharma Show is set to discuss topical parenting issues with people from different walks of life. Sharma plays the role of a non-patronising moderator as she and her guests share experiences, discuss, debate, laughs and learn as they grow together as parents on the journey of bringing up kids. The show will air at 11 am on Sundays, starting on 30 November on Star World.
There will be celebrity and non-celebrity guests on the show as well as tips from professionals like child psychologists, educationists, pediatricians etc, inspirational stories and personal anecdotes. Celebrity guests who will feature on the Sharma’s tete-a-tete with’ segment of the show include Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Mary Kom, Juhi Chawla, Vivek and Priyanka Oberoi, Konkona Sen Sharma and Tisca Chopra, among others.
The Tara Sharma Show creator, host and producer Tara Sharma Saluja commented, “Our show has been a great way for me to be with our kids and continue to work as being the creator, co-producer and host of the show a lot of my work happens from home and as it is centered on topics relevant to children, I can draw from real life experiences and research too. I am a big believer in each to their own, one should never judge another parent as each one’s situation is different, yet we can share and perhaps learn from each other.”
The first episode will see actress and mother of two- Kajol, on the hot seat, as she opens up on the experience of becoming a mother, playing a parent to two young kids and balancing her home and work life. The episode will also have a discussion on stay-home mums, mompreneurs and work-from-home mums, by a group of articulate mums with differing views on the subject.
Johnson and Johnson marketing director Ganesh Bangalore said, “Johnson’s Baby has been witness to the strong bond between mother and baby and has a heritage of over 125 years. This has been achieved, largely by identifying and meeting the needs of babies and the needs of mothers for their babies. This approach has helped us stay modern and contemporary, connected with the new generation mom.”
“We’re delighted to partner again with Johnson’s Baby, who really understands in the most progressive manner, the value of content and creative integrity. With Star World as our broadcast partner and an extensive digital presence including exclusive yearlong content on a premium YouTube partner channel, our objective of creating a truly multi-platform property has been achieved with content quality and audience engagement,” said The 120 Media Collective founder and CEO Roopak Saluja.
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.
