English Entertainment
Zee TV Europe’s LIVE show Zee Companion climbing the success ladder
MUMBAI: Zee Companion, the only South Asian TV show that brings its viewers exclusive local content shot at Zee London Studio, LIVE for the first time in the UK is climbing the success ladder on all fronts. Nearing its 200th episode on December 11, the show has grown to be really popular and a favourite amongst South Asians. This is clearly seen by the increasing number of phone calls and emails the show has been getting over the last few months. So much so that the phone lines have got jammed a few times. An episode on Zee Companion gets around 100+ calls, and frequently the calls have gone up to 400+. The number of calls received grew by an overwhelming 90% in October, and the November number looks even more promising!
Zee Companion, which helps people find solutions to problems faced on a daily basis, has brought popular and celebrated personalities from various fields on the show to discuss these issues. Each day a new topic is taken up and the guests who are well-versed in that day’s topic answer the people’s queries with sound facts and authority. Zee Companion has provided people with a link to experts they felt unable to connect with before. Some prominent guests who have appeared and interacted Live with viewers include Jay Sean, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Kumar Sanu, Shabana Azmi, Jimmy Shergill, Sukhwinder Singh, Kabir Bedi, Nina Manuel, Madhoo, Preeya Kalidas, Pritam Chakraborty, Satinder Sartaj, Anandji (Kalyanji-Anandji fame), Celebrity Chef Cyrus Todiwala, Centenarian Marathon Runner Fauja Singh and many more. Esteemed Business tycoons Hussein Lalani, Shahnaz Husain, Lord G K Noon, Rami Ranger have interacted with viewers and given expert advice. The show covers a variety of topics in the fields of health, law, finance, wellness, business, education and entertainment.
Another feather in its cap is the number of testimonials that viewers constantly send in. A viewer, Mr. Dinesh said, “I regularly watch your show and it is really very informative. I am glad that you have come up with such a brilliant programme. It is one reason why I subscribe to Zee TV”. Another viewer, Mr. P Singh said, “Just watching the show now and although it’s not a glamorous subject, the host has made it so informative and entertaining. You can count me in as a lifetime viewer”. Being able to speak with Kumar Sanu on Zee Companion, a fan on Twitter recently tweeted “Thank you sooo much #ZeeTv for the opportunity of a lifetime to speak to the #King Of #Melody.”
Owing to its immense and growing popularity, Zee Companion has now taken toll free telephone numbers for viewers in Belgium, France, Germany, Holland and Italy.
A space to look out for on the Zee Companion website is the blog page where the hosts post their personalised diaries for each topic including advice and experiences. This section on the website has gained immense popularity and has been getting a high number of visits each month. Zee Companion’s digital presence across multiple portals helps it reach out to a more diverse audience and also connect to the youth of the society. And there is greater excitement coming up, as Zee is preparing to launch the Zee Companion app soon.
Zee Companion has set a benchmark with this show and every episode is only going to get better from here 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.
