Disney's shining mouse

-SDH We said it before and we'll say it again. Choosing Bob Iger as his successor was probably the only smart thing then outgoing Disney CEO Mike Eisner did in his last days at the company. Not only has Bob Iger injected new energy into the company, he put all Eisner's old beefs, mainly with Pixar to rest when he bought the company, and has consistently over delivered on revenue expectations. So how do you reward a CEO who constantly pleases? Well you sign him on for another round of what you hope will be five years to remember. Oh yeah did we mention that you also throw in an even fatter bonus and annual take home pay? Oh yeah! The agreement, which extends through Jan. 31, 2013, modestly raises Mr. Iger’s compensation. He will receive a minimum bonus of $10 million for 2008, up from $7.25 million under the former contract. Disney Signs Its Chief to a New Five-Year Contract [NYT]

Some media execs still got big pay for doing shiteous jobs

-MARTY Wow! those media execs who are actually doing good jobs must be pissed right now. Because some of their counterparts still got big pay even though their companies were reporting below the belt results. Then again it's all one big club. Its no secret that when a media exec gets canned, they leave with more cash than most of us will ever see in our lifetime. Some of these companies are even laying off tons of workers but the CEOs themselves aren't taking any pay cuts to help offset any losses. Should media boards have a tighter grip on what their CEOs take home? Jeff Zucker is one media exec, clearly making buckets of the green stuff. Across all main-market listed companies, in the past three years, media businesses offer their chief executives and finance directors about 15 per cent more than the average. However, Paul Wolstenholme, director of Halliwell, said that in the same period, media companies had offered disappointing results for their investors. "The media sector is not performing well, but this research shows that all the executives are taking bucketloads of cash out of the businesses." Media executives' pay outstrips performance [FT]

Less but more for Les, out at CBS in 2011?

Guess our advice to give Les Moonves dual rule over both Viacom and CBS went over the heads of board members. Moonves's new contract to extend his rule over CBS will pay him based on results at the company and his base salary will be a little less. But the contract only adds two years to Moonves's stint which will end in 2011, yeah right around the corner. Wonder if at that time Moonves will move on to another media company or is there a Moonves, Dauman power sharing plan over both CBS and Viacom in the works. Will Sumner Redstone even be around? Oh man we have so many questions. The new contract, which extends Mr. Moonves’s employment by two years to 2011, lowers his base salary to $3.5 million from $5.9 million, but stipulates that he will also receive a large one-time stock option grant to purchase five million shares, as well as a large grant over four years of restricted shares worth $7.6 million a year. Mr. Moonves is also eligible for a performance-based bonus. New Contract for Moonves Links Pay to CBS’s Results [NYT]

What better way to sell a merger than taking home a huge paycheck

Talk about bad timing. Sirius Radio CEO Mel Karmazin may have just put up yet another brick wall he has to try and break through regarding his dreamy Sirius, XM merger. But he shouldn't have any trouble breaking through it at all because he can use that heavy $31 million pay package he just got. Merger critics are no doubt planning a field day. With CEO compensation becoming a hotly debated flash point among institutional shareholders, Karmazin's pay, disclosed in a proxy filing last Monday, even if deserved is certain to catch the attention of regulators. "Details of Mel's pay package couldn't have come at a worse time for Sirius and XM," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett. MERGER CRITICS KEY ON KARMAZIN'S $31M PAY [NYP]

Les Moonves has to work even harder now to make sure Grandpa Sumner's pay is up to par

CBS said that it will now pay it's grandpa Sumner Redstone based on the stock price. Its not like Sumner needs the money anyway. Now poor Les Mooves has to make sure the stock sits pretty at all times. Under the new agreement, Redstone's annual salary will be reduced to $1 million from $1.75 million and his current $1.3 million per year deferred compensation will be eliminated. Moreover, his annual target cash bonus under the CBS short-term incentive plan will be cut to $3.5 million per year from $6.1 million. CBS links pay package of Redstone to stock price [Reuters]