Even in bad years, media CEOs get a raise

On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter looked at nine large media companies and found that six of them saw their share prices fall in 2014. Of the six companies with slumping shareholder returns last year, only two had CEOs that took a pay cut: Les Moonves, of CBS Corp. (CBS), and Jeffrey Katzenberg, of DreamWorks Animation (DWA).

THR‘s report pulls from the companies’ own publicly-disclosed executive compensation figures, which include base salary as well as stock, other options, and bonuses. CBS’ Moonves saw a 15% decline in his annual compensation in 2014, to $57.2 million, while CBS’s shares lost 12% of their value last year. Katzenberg’s 2014 compensation, meanwhile, dropped 53% as DreamWorks’ stock fell 37%.

THR also noted that Discovery Communications (DISCA) Chief Executive David Zaslav received the highest 2014 compensation from a group of CEOs at nine companies that also includes AMC Networks (AMCX), Netflix (NFLX), Comcast (CMCSA) unit NBCUniversal, Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA) and The Walt Disney Company (DIS).’

Zaslav earned $156.1 million last year — more than triple his compensation from a year earlier — including a $3 million base salary, with the rest coming in the form of stock and options. Meanwhile, Discovery, which runs cable channels such as Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel, saw its share price plummet in 2014 even though full-year revenue increased 13%, as domestic ad sales dropped.

Earlier this year, 21st Century Fox (FOX) denied reports that it held negotiations with Discovery for a potential takeover.

Another media CEO with a big payday last year was AMC chief Josh Sapan, whose compensation more than tripled to $40.3 million while AMC’s stock was down nearly 5% for the year. AMC’s full-year revenue jumped by more than $2 billion last year, but profits were down 10%.

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