When Box-Office Hits Get Nominated, Do Oscar Ratings Go Up?

Host Jon Stewart speaks on stage during the 80th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 24, 2008 in Hollywood, California.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

After The Dark Knight was conspicuously absent from the Best Picture race at the 2009 Oscars, the academy decided to increase the number of possible nominees?which had been capped at five since 1945?to 10. A subsequent revision allowed for anywhere between five and 10 nominees, depending how many votes movies received. This move opened up the exclusive category to films that might not have gotten in before?including big box office hits. The theory seemed to be that if commercially and critically adored films like The Dark Knight were in the running for Best Picture, the TV rating for the ceremony would get a boost from their popularity. But does this theory actually hold up?

Pretty much. We took a look at the Oscar ratings data provided by the academy for every ceremony since 1976 and put them up against the estimated number of people who went to see the Best Picture nominees each year. To reach that estimated number, we added up the gross domestic totals of all the nominated movies and divided that by the average ticket price in each year. This is an imperfect gauge, of course, but it does roughly illustrate the popularity of a given slate of movies.

Ratings for the Oscar broadcast have been in a fairly steady decline over the last 35 years, but spikes have occurred when a blockbuster film was nominated: In 1998, when Titanic was nominated, the telecast rating jumped to 34.9, the highest since 1983, when E.T. was nominated in 1983. That broadcast got a 38 rating, the best in our sample.* The Best Picture nominees were seen by an estimated 22 million people that year. The following year, only 6 million saw the Oscar nominees, and the rating plunged to 30.3.

The 2008 Oscars was the lowest rated telecast in the 38 years we surveyed, at 18.7, and 2009 wasn?t much better with a 20.8. The next year, when Avatar was nominated, the rating rose to 23.1. Considering that the estimated attendance for the Best Picture movies jumped from 4.92 million to 22.74 million, that?s a pretty small increase. In a world where there is so much more to choose from on TV?not to mention the Internet?even popular blue aliens or men in dark capes may not be enough to make people sit through three hours of montages and speeches.

Correction, Feb. 22, 2013: This article originally said that the 1998 Oscars telecast was the highest rated since 1978. In fact, the 1983 ceremony had higher ratings. (Return.)

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=f407f3a70e1cdcba190fd9f81e10dacb

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Search Engine Optimization vs Email marketing | Internet Marketing ...

Random debates have always sparked on whether search engine optimization involves email marketing but have always ended in confusions from both debating sides. To end this for once, maybe the similarities below will act as reference for future debates thereby justifying the probable truth. Even so, the whole truth is that the overall objective for both is their need to attract huge viewership.

In search engine optimization, the focus is on optimizing content for either top search engine rankings or improving traffic to websites whereas email marketing only involves sending, attaching or embedding promotional content to random mail recipients with a view of marketing a product. Whatever the technique, it is obvious the main subject is addressing the needs of the prospective consumer market and in return either the content receives higher search engine rankings, other online users get a whim of what?s happening or prospective buyers finally land on their wish-list fulfillment. As one may filter out, there isn?t any much significant difference exhibited by both.

In various cases, the divide between these two concepts is too thin and even invisible that individuals have usually opted for safer argument of them being similar. A good example is practiced by online content marketers who combine a lot of techniques in varied packages to suit the needs of varied consumers and by so doing, combine elements of search engine optimization together with email marketing. As much as the ability to combine these two concepts is made possible by content marketers, it may be hard for others to master.

Modern technological advances have only reshaped the outlook of content marketing either by fusing email marketing with search engine optimization or introducing new features that phase out email advertising by replacing it with social media marketing. Either way you view this, it is such a sigh of breath for content marketers as they get even more extra platforms to practice their business without having the dilemma of the obsolescence their current work may be subjected to. As an individual, one may decide to classify search engine optimization against email advertising since they may have sufficient reasons to however; with an idea not all ground offers plenty of reasons against the equality of these concepts. in a nutshell, it is believed any argument can emanate from these two concepts against each other but it should only happen in the sense of the impacts contributed by email marketing towards search engine optimization.

It is pretty much difficult to tell the real differences between these two forms of marketing. For one reason or the other, either of them tends to borrow from each other in as far as concepts are concerned. Therefore when you actually manage to use either of them, it becomes a very simple process for you. This is especially so in the event that you are looking to achieve as much success as possible. When you want to make sure that your business online is as successful as you would like it to be, you will have to look into ways of making sure that you do not just make it look great, but you make sure it reaches out to so many people.

Source: http://www.eulergroup.com/search-engine-optimization-vs-email-marketing/

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UFC on Fox 5?s Three Stars: Matt Brown, Abel Trujillo and Daron Cruickshank

Heading into UFC on Fox 5, the UFC appeared to have put together their best card yet to appear on the network. But with such high expectations, there's no way it could deliver, right? Wrong. From the Fight of the Night, that aired on Facebook, to the main event, the UFC showed the best of the promotion. But who really stood out?

No. 1 star -- Matt Brown: It is really, really fun to watch Matt Brown fight, so it makes sense the UFC would put his bout with Mike Swick at the start of their Fox broadcast. Brown rewarded that faith by knocking out Swick hah

No. 2 star -- Abel Trujillo: In his first UFC fight, Trujillo dealt with a last-minute opponent change after Tim Means slipped in the sauna. Trujillo then dealt Marcus LeVesseur a beating that ended with a second-round TKO.

No. 3 star -- Daron Cruickshank: In his first post-TUF fight, Cruickshank impressed. In the first round, he hit Henry Martinez so hard that you were bound to wonder if Martinez's chin was literally made of stone. In the second round, we found out it wasn't. Cruickshank landed a perfectly timed headkick to knock Martinez out.

Do you agree? Should Scott Jorgensen or Yves Edwards made the list? Someone else entirely? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Robert Griffin III gets brutal reality check
? Video: Johnny Manziel takes the Heisman; Pat Forde tells why
? Bobcats president Rod Higgins waives his own son
? Y! News: Manny Pacquiao's awkward moment with Mitt Romney

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-5-three-stars-matt-brown-abel-172207202--mma.html

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Congo rebels dodge meeting as peace talks falter

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) ? Representatives of rebels attending peace talks with the Congolese government dodged a crucial meeting Monday at which the government delegation was to respond to earlier criticism, a development that could jeopardize negotiations to end the crisis in eastern Congo.

The talks, which are being held in the Ugandan capital Kampala, got off to a tense start Sunday, when Francois Rucogoza, leader of the M23 delegation, accused the Congolese government of lacking "visionary leadership" and of corruption and incompetence.

The Congolese government delegation on Monday refused to give its rebuttal as earlier planned, saying they can do so only if the M23 delegation is present to hear their side.

If the rebels dig in and refuse to listen to the rebuttal by the Congolese government, it could end the talks before they even start. Raymond Tshibanda, the Congolese foreign minister, told Ugandan mediators and reporters that peace talks would not proceed if there is "bad faith" on the part of the rebels.

"It is important that both sides accept to listen to your wisdom," Tshibanda told Defense Minister Crispus Kiyonga, the Ugandan official picked by Uganda's president to mediate the talks.

Of the rebels Tshibanda said: "They are not ready to listen."

Kiyonga said he had been informed by an M23 representative earlier on Monday that they had no interest in hearing what the Congolese delegation had to say.

"I personally rang the leader of the M23 and appealed to him to turn up for this meeting," Kiyonga said of Rucogoza, the executive secretary of M23. "He indicated that he was under instructions not to attend this meeting."

Although Ugandan military officials are accused in a recent United Nations report of backing the rebels, the East African country has been mediating talks between the rebels and the Congolese government. A deal struck in Kampala led to the rebels' withdrawal from the eastern provincial city of Goma, which the rebels had taken last month in the face of a Congolese army in disarray.

M23 is made up of hundreds of soldiers who deserted the Congolese army in April. The rebels accuse Congo's government of failing to honor the terms of a 2009 peace deal that incorporated them into the national army. The U.N. report also charged Rwanda with backing the M23, which Rwanda denies. Regional leaders under the banner of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, a regional bloc of which Congo is a member, last month urged the Congolese government to listen to M23's "legitimate grievances."

It remains unclear if the talks will proceed Tuesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-rebels-dodge-meeting-peace-talks-falter-161810589.html

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HSBC to pay record $1.9 billion fine in money laundering case

(Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Plc has agreed to pay $1.92 billion to settle a multi-year U.S. criminal probe into money-laundering lapses at the British lender, the largest penalty ever paid by a bank.

HSBC admitted to a breakdown of controls and apologized in a statement on Tuesday announcing it had reached a deferred-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, as was first reported by Reuters last week.

"We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organization from the one that made those mistakes," said Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver.

"Over the last two years, under new senior leadership, we have been taking concrete steps to put right what went wrong and to participate actively with government authorities in bringing to light and addressing these matters."

The bank said it expected to also reach a settlement with British watchdog the Financial Services Authority.

U.S. and European banks have now agreed to settlements with U.S. regulators totaling some $5 billion in recent years on charges they violated U.S. sanctions and failed to police illicit transactions.

No bank or bank executives, however, have been indicted as prosecutors have instead utilized deferred prosecutions.

The deferred prosecution agreement, when detailed by U.S. Justice Department officials later on Tuesday, could yield new information about a failure at HSBC to police transactions linked to Mexico, sources familiar with the matter said. Details of those dealings were reported this summer in a sweeping U.S. Senate probe.

HSBC's settlement also includes agreements or consent orders with the Manhattan district attorney, the Federal Reserve and three U.S. Treasury Department units: the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

HSBC said it would pay $1.921 billion, continue to cooperate fully with regulatory and law enforcement authorities and take further action to strengthen its compliance policies and procedures. U.S. prosecutors have agreed to defer or forgo prosecution.

The settlement is the third time in a decade that HSBC has been penalized for lax controls and ordered by U.S. authorities to better monitor suspicious transactions. Directives by regulators to improve oversight came in 2003 and again in 2010.

Last month, HSBC told investors it had set aside $1.5 billion to cover fines or penalties stemming from the inquiry and warned costs could be significantly higher.

Analyst Jim Antos of Mizuho Securities said the statement on Tuesday indicates an extra $420 million for the settlement costs, calling it a "trivial" figure in terms of the company's book value. "But in terms of real cash terms, that's a huge fine to pay," said Antos, who rates HSBC a "buy".

HSBC shares fell slightly in early London trading to 6.40 pounds. The bank's Hong Kong listed stock nudged up 0.3 percent to HK$79.70.

HSBC's settlement is the latest chapter in an embarrassing period for the bank, the result of a lengthy probe into Europe's biggest bank by U.S. law enforcement agencies as well as a U.S. Senate panel that in July issued a scathing review of HSBC.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CONTROLS

In its statement, HSBC said it had increased spending on anti-money laundering systems, exited business relationships, and clawed back bonuses for senior executives. It also cited the hiring last January of Stuart Levey, a former top U.S. Treasury Department official, as chief legal officer.

Under a five-year agreement with the Justice Department, HSBC agreed to have an independent monitor evaluate its progress in improving its compliance.

HSBC also said that as part of the overhaul of its controls it has launched a global review of its Know Your Customer files, which will cost an estimated $700 million over five years. The bank has also increased its spending on anti-money laundering by around nine times between 2009 and 2011, it said.

HSBC's settlement comes a day after rival British bank Standard Chartered Plc agreed to a $327 million settlement with U.S. law enforcement agencies for sanctions violations, a pact that follows a $340 million settlement the bank reached with the New York bank regulator in August.

Such settlements have become commonplace. In what had been the largest settlement until this week, ING Bank NV in June agreed to pay $619 million to settle U.S. government allegations it violated sanctions against countries including Cuba and Iran.

Other banks that have reached settlements over sanctions violations are Credit Suisse Group of Switzerland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays Plc in Britain and ABN Amro Holding NV, a Dutch bank acquired by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and a bank consortium in 2007. In the United States, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wachovia Corp. and Citigroup Inc. have been cited for anti-money laundering lapses or sanctions violations.

HSBC's failings date to 2003, when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York state regulators ordered the bank to better monitor suspicious money flows.

In 2010, a consent order from the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) ordered HSBC to review suspicious transactions moving through the bank. At the time, the OCC called HSBC's compliance program "ineffective".

In 2008, the U.S. Attorney in Wheeling, West Virginia, began investigating HSBC and how a local doctor allegedly used the bank to launder Medicare fraud.

Ultimately, that prosecutor's office came to believe the case was "the tip of the iceberg" in terms of the suspicious transactions conducted through HSBC, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and reported earlier this year.

(Additional reporting by Lawrence White and Michael Flaherty in Hong Kong; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hsbc-announce-1-8-billion-settlement-u-money-054334042--sector.html

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Houston home sales surge in October | Boston Homes Prime Real ...

The Houston real estate market saw its supply decline in October, as home sales were up significantly.

According to the Houston Association of Realtors, single-family home sales increased 32.7 percent on a year-over-year basis, which marked the 17th straight month of sales gains.

This large jump in home sales brought the inventory of homes for sale in Houston down to a 4.4 months supply, the lowest level since December 2001.

Additionally, foreclosure sales declined 10.9 percent compared to the same period last year, and made up 15.5 percent of all sales. This was the lowest monthly foreclosure sales volume of the year.

?Home sales throughout Houston were incredibly strong in October and sent the supply of homes down to 4.4 months, which is the lowest level we've observed in 11 years,? said Wayne Stroman, HAR chairman. ?Our active real estate market reflects the general health of the Houston economy, most notably the addition of close to 96,000 new jobs over the past year, according to the latest Texas Workforce Commission employment report.?

The Houston real estate market has been one of the healthiest in the country and the Texas A&M Real Estate Center believes it can survive the fiscal cliff for numerous reason, including smart building, more jobs and fewer foreclosure than many other markets.

Source: http://wickedlocalbostonhomes.com/2012/12/boston-real-estate/houston-home-sales-surge-in-october/

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Will your gadgets freeze in your car in the winter?

10 hrs.

Whitson Gordon , Lifehacker

You almost always have your laptop, iPod, and smartphone with you, but don't always want to lug them around. Is it okay to leave them in your car if it's particularly cold outside? What about in the summer heat? You know extreme temperatures aren't good, but how hot is too hot and?how cold is too cold?

We've?talked about temperature limits?before, but more in the context of CPU temperature???leaving gadgets?in your car in the cold or heat is a completely different matter, since it affects the battery, screen, and other parts. In general, you want to avoid extreme temperatures as much as possible, so no, I wouldn't recommend leaving it in your car. Here's a bit more detail on what your laptop or smartphone can take.

How hot is too hot?
We all know heat is bad for your tech. Not only can it?fry the processor?of your laptop or gadget, but it can lower your battery's life and even make the hard drive expand. And, if you live in a humid area, you also have to worry about condensation building up on the inside.

Generally,?once it hits 90? or 95? Fahrenheit, you want to start shielding your laptop and smartphone from the heat. Remember that the inside of your car will get hotter than the outside, too, so even if it isn't quite 90??outside, you should keep it in your bag or leave it at home. And, if you absolutely must have it with you, do your best to keep it in the shade and out of direct sunlight.?Laptop stands?can also help a great deal.

How cold is too cold?
Cold is a slightly more interesting beast. In general, tech runs much better when it's cool than when it's hot, but when you start approaching extreme winter temperatures, the weather can be just as harmful as in the summer. If you leave your device in the cold for too long, its battery will die and its LCD screen will likely start having issues, and possibly die completely. Furthermore, if you leave it in the cold and then bring it into a warm room quickly, you can cause condensation to build up inside the device, which has the potential for more long-term damage.

PC World found that?different gadgets can withstand different temperatures of cold, but to be conservative, we recommend taking precautions once the ambient temperature reaches freezing, or 32? Fahrenheit. Lower than that, and you'll slowly start to see different errors or issues until your gadget powers down altogether. When you can, keep your laptop in a case or bag and your smartphone in your pocket, to help shield it from the winds of winter.

Lastly, if for some reason you?do?expose your gadget to extreme temperatures, don't try to use it right away. Instead, let it warm up or cool down to room temperature before you turn it on. This will help protect your gadget from more lasting damage from things like condensation. In general, just use common sense: if your computer feels particularly cold or hot to the touch before it's even on, you probably shouldn't leave it alone in that weather.

More from Lifehacker:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/will-your-gadgets-freeze-your-car-winter-1C7505412

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