English Entertainment
Zee English to air Miss Universe show on 4 June
MUMBAI: Zee English will telecast the Miss Universe live and exclusive on 4 June 2003 at 7:30 am with a repeat at 8:30 pm.
Zee English and MGM said business head Ashvini Yardi was quoted as saying: “Zee English will telecast the Miss Universe pageant for the fourth time in a row and is indeed proud to be associated with the worlds top-most beauty pageant. There is a lot of feel good factor associated with the Miss Universe Beauty pageant in India because of the exemplary performances of former representatives from India at the pageant.”
Zee officials have confirmed that the channel will air a special Miss Universe curtain raiser on 1 June between 9-10 pm. They add that this curtain raiser will include soundbites from Nikita Anand, Femina Miss India who will be representing India.
Femina Miss India Nikita Anand
Officials confirm that the channel had spoken to Anand before she left for Panama City. The curtain-raiser will include reactions from her designers, her trainers, dietician, her family, friends and well wishers – having their say on Nikita and how they are looking forward to the pageant.
Zee English had done some ground promotions to coincide with Anand’s Mumbai visit. The release also states that enthusiastic well wishers had lined up in droves to support the charming Miss Universe contestant.
A life size good-luck card was presented to her by Zee English and Zee MGM brand manager Jay Sampat before she left for Panama City. This life size good luck card was taken to different hot spots in Mumbai where thousands of Mumbaities penned their good luck wishes, claim Zee officials.
“Our effort through the ‘Good luck campaign was to translate this feeling into a concrete effort and record our support to the Indian flag bearer. While we wish Nikita Anand the very best for the winning the title, we also acknowledge with gratitude the unprecedented support we got for the ‘Good luck campaign’,” Yardi added.
While receiving the card, an ebullient Nikita reflected that with the prayers and support of her fellow Indians, she would win the coveted crown and make it a third time for India. The Miss Universe title was twice won by two Indian women – first by Sushmita Sen in 1994 and then Lara Dutta in 2000.
On-air promos and outdoor campaigns for the live telecast of the pageant are already on.
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.
