English Entertainment
Star World Premiere HD introduces ‘Star World Premiere #AllAtOnce’
MUMBAI: Star World Premiere HD, one of India’sleading English entertainment channels that pioneered the day and date movement in the country is synonymous to the best of English content on TV today. Having acquired mega hit TV series such as Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, Martin Scorsese’s Vinyl and Chris Carter’s X-Files in the past to showcasing the latest seasons of international TV sensation Game of Thrones and M Night Shyamalan’s Wayward Pines, the channel boasts of a television library packed with only the most critically acclaimed series on Indian television.
Taking its offering a step further, Star World Premiere HD, in keeping with the audiences’ need for uninterrupted TV viewing, is all set to introduce an all-new weekend property – Star World Premiere #AllAtOnce! Tapping into the nerve of the nation, the channel differentiates Star World Premiere #AllAtOnce from popular Weekend Binge properties on air by telecasting only the most renowned, highest rated TV series with a stellar star cast and complex storylines that are sure to keep viewers captivated all weekend long with unremitting episodes one after the other.
Star World Premiere HD, the trailblazer for showcasing only the choicest shows on television, will kick-start Star World Premiere #AllAtOnce on June 25 2016 with a firecracker of a line up comprising of a mix of exciting and award winning HBO and other network shows. These will include Matthew McConaughey starrer and Emmy award winning show True Detective–the first season of the anthology series that focuses on the lives of Louisiana State Police homicide detectives Rustin ‘Rust’ Cohle and Martin ‘Marty’ Hart;Clive Owen starrer historical period medical drama The Knick which won the prestigious Primetime Emmy awards for its distinct narrative;
Togetherness Season 2 starring stellar actors Amanda Peet, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Duplass and Steve Zissis in an unconventional family drama where they try and make their ends meet while making their relationships workand Baskets starring Zach Galifianakis of Hangover fame in yet another unconventional comedy series that follows the life of Chip Baskets, a man in pursuit of achieving unparalleled success as a professional clown. The shows will air every Saturday and Sunday, 12 PM onwards, throughout the month with one show every weekend.
Other top notch shows with quality content such as critically acclaimedpolice procedural show Bosch, criminal justice TV miniseries The Night Of, Primetime Emmy award winning political satire comedy Veep, Sci-Fi drama series Colony, Lisa Kudrow of FRIENDS fame starrer comedy drama series The Comeback, Justin Theroux starrer thriller series The Leftovers, legendary film maker Martin Scorsese’s debut TV venture Vinyl, Golden Globe and Emmy award winning series Homeland, the upcoming TV series Quarry, Dwayne Johnson starrer Ballers and more that will also make their way to the channel’s Star World Premiere #AllAtOnce programming line-up in the months to come.
Setting yet another benchmark in content consumption, Star World Premiere HD is geared up to captivate viewers by relaying revered shows from a gamut of genres with intricate plot lines and complex characters that are sure to weave their magic on-screen! Having already showcased its penchant in foreseeing consumer needs, Star World Premiere HD is now ready to mark a paradigm shift in the TV viewing experience by providing audiences with a superior binging experience with some of the best shows on TV hand-picked only on Star World Premiere #AllAtOnce.
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.
