English Entertainment
Zee Café launches weeknights block ‘Greatest Of All Time’
MUMBAI: Zee Café, one of the leading English entertainment channels, brings shows that are the “Greatest Of All Time.” When the clock strikes 10, it’s time to stop what you are doing and hangout with the greatest weeknights on Zee Café, available with the Zee Prime English Pack. As the sun goes down, viewers will now be in for an exciting ride with shows such as the IMDB 7.4-rated ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, IMDB 7.3-rated ‘Dynasty’ and the IMDB 8.2-rated ‘Penny Dreadful’.
The Primetime Emmy award-winning series ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms. The series revolves around one Starfleet officer Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.
With a classic interplay of wealth, power and privilege, here’s the story of America’s two wealthy families at odds in the People’s Choice Awards-Winning series ‘Dynasty’. In the modern reimagining of the classic prime-time show, the series features two-woman Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillie), daughter of billionaire Blake Carrington (Grant Show) and her soon-to-be stepmother, Cristal (Ana Brenda Contreras) at loggerheads, exposing the dark underbelly of a corrupt world.
In ‘Penny Dreadful,’ a frightening psychological thriller, some of literature’s most famously terrifying characters – including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, all brilliantly re-imagined in a whole new light have become embroiled in Victorian London. The Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated series were created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan's Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (1917, American Beauty) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street.
Bringing some of the choicest World Television Premieres in the language of your choice, prized dramas, international news and lifestyle content for the Indian viewers, the unique bouquet Zee Prime English Pack – comprising &flix, Zee Café, LF and Wion, is priced at an attractive Rs. 15 per month. That’s not all! For those who appreciate nuanced cinema &PrivéHD brings riveting and award-winning films that stimulate the minds as they show them the other sides of cinema. Zee Prime English HD Pack comprising – &PrivéHD, Zee Café HD, &flix HD, LF HD is priced at Rs. 25. Consumers can also subscribe to the Zee All In One Pack Rs. 59 per month.
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.
