English Entertainment
Trendz TV brings special shows with new year theme
MUMBAI: Zee’s fashion and style channel Trendz TV is all set to welcome the new year with new programming initiatives. Apart from launching a new show in the primetime band, the channel has a one hour special show meant to popularize Indian fashion with the viewers.
The one hour special show Style India 2k5, anchored by noted hair stylist Sapna Malhotra, will bring the viewers a sneak peek into the world of fashion for the whole of next year. The episode, done on a budget of Rs. 4,00,000, will give fashion forecasts from the best in the industry.
Showcasing interviews from designers, stylists, make-up experts and hair stylists from across the country, the programme covers several aspects like cut and line, colours, fabric and textures, the embroidery, the overall feel, the latest trend for the kind of eye and lip make-up, what kind of hair dos, what similarities and differences will be there between Indian and Western fashion and so on. Style India 2k5 will air on 30 December at 10 pm with a repeat on 31 December at 7 pm.
Trendz business head Ajay Trigunayat says in a company release, “For long, western fashion has been the staple of fashion watchers in the country. Style India 2K5 will change that perception by showcasing designers, stylists & fashion experts from India, as they give their views on the fashion scene. All this will be done in a realistic manner – in salons or studios for the viewers to relate to what they see on television.”
A 13-part series Full Frontal Fashion Top Ten will debut on 28 December at 10:30 pm. The countdown show is anchored by Rebecca Budig who counts down the top ten looks, tips or trends in an array of categories. The categories are Classic Looks, Accessories, Sexiest Looks, Beauty Secrets, Slimming Looks, Ways to Style Your Man, Swimsuit Looks, Fashion Icons, Wedding Looks, Designer Style Secrets, Looks for Less, Fashion Faux Pas and Best Dressed.
Full Frontal Fashion has some of the biggest names in the fashion world commenting on the top ten picks. These names include commentators from Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Lucky, In Style, US Weekly, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Target, The Gap and many well-known designers and celebrities, informs an official release.
“A show like Full Frontal Fashion Top Ten will be a complete fashion bible to the conscious viewer who wants to be informed of all the latest trends & styles,” says Trigunayat.
In addition, Full Frontal Fashion is full of fabulous insider style tips and viewers will walk away feeling that they are totally in the fashion know. Viewers will learn how to avoid fashion faux pas or create a great wardrobe on a tight budget. Full Frontal Fashion is dedicated to keeping up-to-date on what’s hot – and what’s not – and giving viewers tips and ideas on how to keep in step with the ever-changing world of fashion, adds the release.
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.
