Netflix said it expects to pay its co-CEOs, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, $40 million each in 2024, the same target as in 2023.

Both executives get a compensation package of $3 million in base salary, $6 million in bonuses, $15.5 million in restricted stock units and $15.5 million in performance-based restricted stock units, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The move follows a nonbinding vote by shareholders in June to reject the big pay packages.

Executive chairman Reed Hastings is expected to get total compensation of $1 million, while chief financial officer Spencer Neumann gets $!5 million and chief legal officer David Hyman receives $11 million. 

Netflix said that its board eliminated the option executives had to decide how much of their pay came in the form of stock. The board’s compensation committee said some shareholders were concerned executives might take all of their pay in cash.

The company said it also expanded participation in its annual bonus program to all executives.

Netflix also changed its executive severance plan. If an executive is terminated or resigns for good reason within three months before or 24 months after a change in control, those executives will receive a cash lump sum equal to two times the sum of their annual base salary and target annual bonus, a pro-rata lump sum cash bonus based on target performance under the bonus plan and cash for continue health, dental and other benefits.

Paramount CEO Bob Bakish’s compensation for 2022 was $32.05 million, up from $20.06 million in 2021, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bakish received a stock award of $16 million. He did not receive a stock award in 2021. He got a $16 million stock award in 2020, when his compensation was $39 million.

Paramount also announced the  addition of Dawn Ostroff as an independent, non-executive director

Ostroff was most recently Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer at Spotify, Prior to Spotify, she was president of Conde Nast Entertainment. Before that she was president of entertainment for The CW.

"We are thrilled to welcome Dawn to Paramount's Board at such an exciting moment in our evolution," said Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount's Board of Directors. "We believe her leadership, diverse expertise in content strategy and her long track record of driving transformation will prove invaluable as we seek to continue building on the success of Paramount's global multiplatform strategy."

Ostroff will stand for election at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. Two current directors, Candace Beinecke and Ronald Nelson, will not stand for re-election. 

The change will leave the Paramount Board with eleven members, with eight members serving as independent directors, pending the vote at the annul meeting. ■

Comcast said it signed a new employment agreement with recently named president Michael Cavanagh that runs through December 31, 2027.

According to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, the deal calls for Cavanagh to receive an annual base salary of $2.5 million, effective March 1, 2023.

Cavanagh also gets a special performance-based option to purchase 2 million shares of Comcast Class A common stock, valued at $14.8 million. 

The performance award is based on average annual growth in free cash flow over five years. If free cash flow grows 8%, Cavanagh gets 100% of the award. If growth is 6%, he gets 50%. The maximum award -- 200% -- would come if growth is at least 12%.

“The Performance Award is designed to ensure leadership continuity over the longer term, enhance retention in response to increasing competition for high-performing talent and incent company financial performance by aligning compensation with rigorous performance targets that drive long-term shareholder value creation,” Comcast said in the filing. “The company believes that FCF per share is an important metric which measures, among other things, cash remaining after capital investments that allows us to repay indebtedness, make strategic investments and return capital to shareholders.”

Cavanagh received total compensation of $27.4 million in 2021, including $10.1 million in stock awards. ■

Compared to how much he was making when he last held the job, Bob Iger might be a bargain in his second tour as CEO of Walt Disney Co.

According to a filing with the SEC, Iger will have a $1 million annual salary and an annual bonus that could earn him up to another $1 million. 

As part of the company’s long-term equity-based incentive plans, Iger is also eligible for a yearly award with a target value of $25 million. The award would be composed 60% of restricted stock units and 40% in the form of stock options.

“Depending on performance, the actual amount payable as an annual bonus to Mr. Iger may be less than, greater than or equal to the stated target bonus (and could be zero),” the filing notes.

In 2019, his last full year as CEO of Disney, Iger received total compensation of $47.5 million, including a $3 million salary, $10.1 million in stock awards, $9.6 million in option awards and $21 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.

Iger did even better in fiscal 2018, when his total compensation was $165.6 million.

The filing notes that former CEO Bob Chapek was terminated without cause. The filing did not specify how much he received, except to say the separation benefits would be made in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement.

In fiscal 2021, the last year Disney reported, Chapek received $32.5 million as CEO, including a $2.4 million salary, $10.2 million in stock awards, $3.8 million in option awards and $14.3 million in no-equity incentive plan compensation. ■

Nielsen CEO David Kenny’s total compensation for 2021 was $13.8 million, up 29% from the previous year, according to Nielsen’s proxy statement, released Tuesday.

Kenny took a paycut in 2020, a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic affected most businesses. Kenny received $12.9 million in compensation during 2019.

Nielsen last month agreed to be acquired by a group of private equity firms in a deal worth $16 billion.

Kenny got his raise as Nielsen went through a challenging year as it was found to have under-counted TV viewing during the pandemic and lost its accreditation from the Media Rating Council, opening the door to a group of new competitors.

In the proxy statement, Nielsen cited Kenny’s achievements for the year, including guiding the company to 4.9% revenue growth and 5.4% adjusted EBITDA growth. He also sold off Nielsen’s Global Connect business, and met product goals for CTV measurement and the alpha version of Nielsen One for advertisers, the part of the company's new cross-platform measurement system. ■

The Murdochs who run Fox Corp. received lower total compensation for the year ended June 30, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday.

Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s total compensation was $31.1 million, down from $34 million the previous year. 

The biggest change in compensation for Murdoch was the change in value in his pension and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings, which was $13.7 million a year ago and $9.9 million for 2021. His salary and stock awards were down, while non-equity incentive plan compensation rose.

Murdoch’s son Lachlan, the company’s executive chairman and CEO, received $27.7 million, down from $29.2 million in fiscal 2020. The change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings was the biggest difference for Lachlan Murdoch as well. His salary was down, as were his stock awards, while non-equity incentive plan competition rose.

John Nallen, Fox’s chief operating officer, saw his total compensation dip to $12.5 million from $13.1 million a year ago. 

Chief legal and policy officer Viet Dihn’s compensation rose slightly to $12.4 million from $12.1 million and chief financial officer Steven Tomsic’s pay rose to $7.5 million from $6.9 million.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s total compensation for 2020 was $37.7 million, down 18% from $45.8 million in 2019, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday.

The big change in Zaslav’s pay was that he received no option award for 2020. Last year, he received nearly  $7 million in options.

“Zaslav provided extraordinary leadership during a time of unprecedented challenge and delivered against our strategic priorities,” according to a report by the Discovery’s board’s compensation committee. “ In addition, Mr. Zaslav provided exceptional leadership with respect to the expansion of our direct-to-consumer business and the successful launch of Discovery Plus in several international markets during 2020 and the preparation for the January 2021 U.S. launch of the product.”

The ratio of the CEO’s compensation to the media employee’s total compensation at Discovery was 565 to 1.

Also Read: Discovery Saw $400 Million NextGen Loss Building Discovery Plus

CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels' total compensation was $6.9 million, down from $7.4 million.

Bruce Campbell, chief development, distribution and legal officer, saw his competition hold steady at $9.1 million.

JB Perrette, president and CEO of Discovery International, got $10.4 million, down from $14.5 million.

Peter Faricy, who joined the company in 2018 as head of Discovery’s direct to consumer business and left in 2020, got $5.3 million for 2020.

FuboTV CEO David Gandler and executive chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. each received stock options valued at more than $20 million as part of their 2020 compensation, according to a proxy statement released by the sports-focused virtual multichannel video programming distributor on Wednesday.

Gandler had a salary of $470,000, a bonus of $265,068 and option awards of $20.9 million as part of his total compensation of $21.694,522.

Also Read: fuboTV Makes Deal to Carry Marquee Sports Net in Chicago

Bronfman, who joined the company on April 29, received retainer fees of $84,098 and option awards of $20.9 million for his total compensation of $29.942,144.

fuboTV reported a $570 million loss on revenues of $217.7 million for 2020.

Over the last 12 months, its stock rode a roller coaster rising from a low of $7.51 to a high of $62 a share on Dec. 22, then falling again to $18.66 on April 16. fuboTV shares closed Wednesday at $21.78.

In the proxy statement, fuboTV said it 2020 equate incentive plan provides employees including its named executive officers with  “the opportunity to participate in the equity appreciation of our business and incentivize them to work towards the long-term performance goals of the company.”

The pandemic boosted Netflix’s subscriber numbers in 2020 and it also boosted compensation for the streaming company’s top executive.

Co-CEO and chairman Reed Hastings got $43.2 million in total compensation, up 12% from $38.6 million a year ago.

Also Read: Netflix Adds Just 4 Million New Subscribers in 1st Quarter

Hastings’ option awards rose to $42.4 million from $37.4 million in 2019.

Co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos’ pay climbed 13% to $39.3 million from $34.7 million. Sarandos became co-CEO last July and his salary increased to $20 million from $18 million.

Netflix’s new chief communications officer Rachel Whetstone received total compensation of $5.4 million, including a $4.8 million salary.

 ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish got $38.973 million in total compensation 8n 2929, up from the $36.6 million he received as CEO of Viacom in 2019.

According to the company’s proxy statement filed with the SEC, Bakish’s salary was $3.1 million and he  got $16 million in stock awards and $19.7 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.

New CFO Naveen Chopra’s compensation was $11.3 million. He started in August and received $538,462 and $7.5 million in stock options.

Former CFO Christina Spade’s compensation for 2020 was $20 million, up from $9.4 million in 2019. She is now CFO for AMC Networks.

Gray Television said CEO Hilton H. Howell Jr.’s total compensation fell 27% to $8.89 million in 2020, the company reported.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gray reported that Howell’s salary rose slightly to $1.23 million, but he received small stock awards and non-equity incentive plan compensation.

President and co-CEO Donald P. (Pat) LaPlatney’s compensation rose 8% to $4.13 million.

Also Read: Gray TV Makes $28.5 Million Bet on Envy Gaming

LaPlatney’s salary rose to $1.04 million and he got stock awards of $1.77 million and non-equity incentive pay of $1.17 million.

James Ryan, the CFO, Keven Latek, the chief legal and development officer, and Robert L. Smith, executive VP and COO of the local media group, all saw their total compensation drop significantly to just below $3 million.  

Also Read: Gray Reports Higher Fourth-Quarter Profits

“In evaluating the bonus payouts for 2020, the Compensation Committee took special note of the extraordinary efforts during the pandemic, and the contributions that each [named executive officer] made to the Company’s success in addressing the challenges presented in 2020, and determined that each NEO was entitled to an individual performance adjustment, as provided in the previously adopted annual non-equity incentive compensation program, of +20%,” the company said. “As a result, the total payout for each of the NEOs under the annual non-equity incentive program for 2020 was 141% of target.”

Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge received $38.8 million in total compensation in 2020, a period where the company broke records in broadband subscriber growth and its stock price rose 35%, according to the company’s annual proxy statement filed Thursday.

According to the filing, Rutledge’s base salary rose slightly to $2.1 million from $2 million, but he received $30 million in option awards in 2020 after not receiving any in the previous two years. Rutledge signed a new employment agreement in October that will keep him chairman and CEO at least through 2024. Overall, Rutledge’s total compensation was $37.7 million, nearly five times the $8.7 million he received in 2019.

Charter added more than 2 million broadband customers in 2020, a new record fueled by work-at-home orders as a result of the pandemic. In 2020, Charter’s stock price rose about 35% from $485.08 on Dec. 31 2019 to $653.49 on Dec. 31 2020.

Also Read: Charter’s Giffen Good

Chief operating officer John Bickham also received a big windfall in the form of option awards -- $31. 5 million -- in the period, pushing his total compensation for the year to $36.5 million. Bickham, who said in February that he will retire at the end of 2022, received about $5 million in total compensation in 2019. 

Other senior executives that saw big increases in compensation were chief financial officer Christopher Winfrey, who received $11.2 million in total compensation (up from $2.5 million in the prior year), and senior executive VP David Ellen, whose total haul rose from $3.3 million in 2019 to $10.8 million in 2020. Winfrey received $8.1 million in option awards and Ellen received $6.75 million in option awards during the year.

The Walt Disney Co. said pay for its top executives dropped in 2020 as incentive plan compensation dropped to zero in a year when its theme parks closed, its films couldn’t play in theaters and thousands of employees lost their jobs.

Bob Iger, who gave up the CEO title in February and remains executive chairman, received total compensation of $21.03 million in 2020, compared to $47.52 million in 2019. Iger’s salary fell to $1.569 million from $3 million. Last year he got $21.75 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.

In its SEC filing, the company said that while executives performed admirably amid the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, “management and the Compensation Committee believe that in light of circumstances this year, that no bonus should be made” to its named executive officers.

Bob Capek, who followed Iger as CEO, got total compensation of $14.163 million, including a salary of $1.81 million.

CFO Christine McCarthy’s total compensation dropped to $10.997 million from $14.974 million in 2019.

Zenia Mucha, senior executive VP and chief communications officer, received $4.946 million, down from $7.562 million.

Chief Human Resources Officer and senior executive VP M. Jayne Parker’s compensation was 7.292 million, down from $9.021 million.

Netflix said that Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, the streaming company’s co-CEOs, will each earn $34.65 million for 2021, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The amount is unchanged from the compensation they were scheduled to get in 2020.

Hastings will get an annual salary of $650,000 plus an allocation of stock options worth $34 million as his compensation package.

Also Read: Netflix Promotes Sarandos to Co-CEO with Hastings

Sarandos’ salary will be $20 million. He will also get stock options worth $14.65 million.

Hastings, who is also chairman of the board, will earn a bit less than the $38.6 million he got in 2019, according to the company’s most recent proxy statement. Sarandos, who was elevated to CEO this year and remains chief content officer, will earn the same amount as in 2019.

Netflix also said that CFO Spencer Neumann will get a salary of $6 million and stock options worth $5.55 million; Gary Peters, COO and chief product officer, will get a salary of $12 million and options worth $6.9 million. And chief legal officer David Hyman will get a salary of $4.725 million and $4.725 millions in options.

Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge extended his employment contract with the cable company through 2024, seeing his annual salary increase by about 25% to $2.5 million.

Rutledge, who joined Charter in 2012, has helped steer the company through the purchase of Time Warner Cable in 2016 and transformed the cable operator into one of the premier pure play distribution companies in the sector. Charter stock is up about 20% this year and has risen nearly ten-fold since he joined the company.  S hares were up 4.2% ($24 each) to $600 per share in early trading Thursday. His old employment deal was set to expire at the end of this year. 

“More time in the salt mine,” Rutledge joked about his new employment deal on a conference call Thursday to discuss Q3 results, where the company continued its  torrid growth streak, adding 537,000 broadband customers and 67,000 video customers.

Related: Charter's 'Giffen Good'

As part of his new deal, Rutledge’s annual salary will rise 25% to $2.5 million from $2 million. In addition, he will be eligible for an annual cash bonus of up to 300% of his annual base salary. On Nov. 3, he will also receive $30 million in stock option awards, and will receive the same amount annually in each year of his employment deal. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on the employment deal, each stock option grant will vest on the third anniversary of the grant date, subject to Rutledge’s continued employment or an earlier qualifying termination of service.

In the event that he is terminated involuntarily without cause, Rutledge would receive cash severance of 2.5 times his annual base salary and bonus, a prorated annual bonus for that year,  a cash payment equal to the cost of COBRA coverage for 30 months, and continued vesting of the stock options awarded during the term of the agreement.

Compensation for the top executives at Fox for 2020 fell, according to a proxy filing with the SEC.

Chairman Rupert Murdoch received $34 million, down 20% from $42.2 million in fiscal 2019. His pay includes salary of $4.2 million, stock awards of $5.7 million, option awards of $1.8 million  and incentive compensation of $8.5 million. The change in value of Murdoch’s pension and deferred earnings was $13.7 million.

CEO Lachlan Murdoch’s compensation was $ 29.2 million, down 31% from $42.1 million in fiscal 2019. His pay included $2.5 million in salary, $8.9 million in stock awards, $2.8 million in option awards and incentive plan compensation of $7.5 million. The change in value of his pension and deferred compensation was $5.7 million.

COO John Nallen’s compensation dropped to $13 million from $20.9 million. 

At the onset of the pandemic, Fox's top execs volunteered to give up 100% of their salaries from May 1 to Sept. 30. In total they gave up $2.3 million. 

Top executives at Nielsen are taking pay cuts through the COVID-19 crisis.

CEO David Kenny has agreed to a 30% cut in cash compensation that is effective May 1 through Sept. 30. Cash compensation includes salary and annual incentive payment.

Last year, Kenny took home $1.3 million in salary, a bonus of $2.5 million and non-equity incentive plan compensation of $2 million. His total compensation was $12.9 million.

Also agreeing to a 30% reduction is David Rawlinson, CEO of Nielsen’s Global Connect unit.

Nielsen’s CFO, chief legal and corporate affairs officer, chief human resources officer and corporate controller have agreed to reductions of 20% in total cash compensation.

Other members of the senior leadership team have agreed to reduce their cash compensation by up to 20%.

Each of the company’s independent directors has agreed to reduce their cash compensation by up to 30%.

Senior executives have agreed to give up their salaries and other compensation at media companies including Comcast and The Walt Disney Co.

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei’s total compensation more than doubled in 2019 to $44 million, fueled mainly by a new employment deal he signed in December.

Maffei’s annual haul was more than twice the $20.2 million he received in 2018. In December, he renewed his employment deal, ensuring he would remain CEO through 2024. As part of that agreement, Maffei received a one-time bonus of $2.2 million and option awards of $27.8 million, nearly $20 million more than the $8.8 million in options he received in the prior year.

Maffei’s annual salary rose slightly to $1.17 million from $1.1 million in the prior year, and his stock awards increased to $3.6 million from $3 million in 2018.

Liberty Media operates and owns interests in a range of media businesses, mainly attributed to three tracking stock groups — Liberty Sirius XM Group, the Braves Group and the Formula One Group. It also holds interests in Live Nation Entertainment and a minority stake in AT&T.

The Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO Bob Iger received total compensation of $65.6 million in 2018, an 80% increase over the prior year, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bulk of that gain came in the form of stock awards — $35.4 million in 2018 compared to about $9 million in 2017. Iger’s base salary rose 16% to $2.9 million from $2.5 million in the prior year. In addition, he received $18 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, up from $15.2 million in the prior year.

Related: Iger: Disney Will Run Hulu With Partners in Mind

Other executives also received healthy pay boosts in 2018, including chef financial officer Christine McCarthy (32.6%) to $11.8 million; SVP general counsel and secretary Alan Braverman (24%) to $10.4 million; and chairman, direct to consumer and international Kevin Mayer (38%) to $11.6 million.

Disney agreed to purchase certain Fox assets in December 2017 for about $52.4 billion,  but was trumped by a Comcast counter offer for the properties in June. After a one month battle, Disney emerged the victor with an offer for $71.3 billion for the Fox assets, nearly $20 billion more than it had originally bid. That deal is expected to close in the first quarter.