Op-Ed on Media CEO Salary and Compensation

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/media-ceo-salaries-compensation-1202801551/

Certain structural particularities may be to blame for the lavish pay packages, compensation experts say. Companies including Fox, Viacom and Comcast have dual-class stock, giving the controlling shareholder nearly absolute authority. “A dual-class structure insulates leaders from performance concerns,” says corporate governance expert Charles Ellison. “In these companies there’s almost no oversight by the board, and the controlling shareholder has the ability to appoint all the companies’ directors and control debate on compensation.”

It also means that they establish a baseline for media executive compensation, creating a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses atmosphere for companies without dual-class structures, such as Disney and Time Warner.

There are signs, however, that the good times are ending. Moonves’ and Bewkes’ current homes may quickly become part of vaster media enterprises. CBS is engaged in tortuous merger talks with Viacom that could leave Moonves either out of a job or in control of a much bigger company. Time Warner is trying to get court approval for its sale to AT&T. Disney agreed to vacuum up much of Fox’s film and television assets, leaving Rupert Murdoch’s empire a shell of its former self. And Lionsgate appears eager to sell itself to the highest bidder. If all this comes to pass, in 12 months we could be looking across a radically altered media landscape.

The Media Landscape is being cited here and also deals pending at play here.