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Heidi Klum Plays Mrs. Robinson In New Carl's Jr. Ad

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Heidi Klum is the new Carl's Jr. girl — joining the ranks of Kate Upton, Padma Lakshmi, Kim Kardashian, and Paris Hilton.

Rather than go with its usual ad strategy, by showing Klum gyrating on the beach with a burger, ad agency 72andSunny decided to recreate "The Graduate." 

Klum plays Mrs. Robinson, of course, and seductively offers a younger man a Jim Bean Bourbon ... burger.

The commercial's a little cheesy, but what do you think? 

SEE ALSO: Silvio Berlusconi With A Trunk Full Of Tied-Up Women Makes For The Worst Ford Ad Ever

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NBC Would Be Insane To Fire Jay Leno

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jay leno the tonight show

Jimmy Kimmel may rule the ratings among the coveted 18-49 demo on his late night ABC talk show, but Jay Leno still garners the best ratings of all of the late night shows and that's what matters, doesn't it?

Not according to NBC.

In the latest installment of the late night TV wars, the peacock network is reportedly trying to oust reigning ratings king Leno in favor of the younger, hipper, Jimmy Fallon, whose show currently comes on after Leno's.

The two NBC late night hosts have even been addressing a possible shake up at the network on their respective shows this week.

While Fallon joked, "The rumors are true. NBC is turning the 'Tonight Show' into a diving competition," Leno's barbs at NBC have cut a bit deeper, calling the network "snakes" and "extinct."

But Leno is rightfully upset. The 62-year-old comedian is still beating his longtime competition, David Letterman, as well as younger late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, in the ratings.

Jay Leno Jimmy Kimmel"Leno has averaged 3.53 million total viewers, compared to 3.1 million for Letterman, and and 2.64 million for Kimmel," reports The Wrap"In the younger demo, Kimmel closes the gap — but is still behind Leno. Leno has 1.02 million viewers 19-49, compared to 936,000 for Kimmel and 873,000 for Letterman."

"NBC isn't reacting to Kimmel beating Leno in younger viewers," adds The Wrap. "It's reacting to the possibility that Kimmel might start beating Leno soon." 

Remember what happened last time NBC tried to replace Leno with the younger Conan O'Brien in 2010? It was bad.

The brass at NBC moved Leno to a primetime spot, giving his late night spot to O'Brien, whose show aired after Leno's. The scheduling change was attributed to poor ratings for both shows.

Though not technically a breach of either host's contract, the change resulted in public demonstrations in support of O'Brien and embarrassment for the network.

Conan OBrien Jay Leno"Shortly after NBC made the schedule change proposal, O'Brien indicated that he would quit his show and leave the network if NBC were to implement it, citing the 'destruction' of the venerable franchise which had aired at or around 11:30 pm for over 60 years," according to a Wikipedia page devoted to the controversy.

Eventually, after nearly two weeks of negotiations, O'Brien walked and he, along with his staff, received a total of $45 million to peacefully exit the network.

"The odds are we will both leave this Earth without speaking to each other, which is fine," O'Brien told The Hollywood Reporter after the 2010 controversy with Leno. "There's really nothing to say. We both know the deal. He knows; I know. I'd rather just forget ... It helps that almost everybody involved in the craziness has been relieved of their jobs."

At the rate NBC is going, they're headed directly for another "2010 Tonight Show Conflict," as the incident is now known.

SEE ALSO: Leno out, Fallon in? Rumored switch up at NBC after Kimmel steals the young demo >

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Yoko Ono Tweets Photo Of John Lennon's Bloody Glasses

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Yoko Ono John Lennon

Yoko Ono posted a haunting image and statistic on Twitter Thursday as part of a campaign aiming to end gun violence.

"The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience," tweeted the 80-year-old widow. "After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon." 

Lennon, who used his fame to promote world peace, was shot to death outside his New York apartment — where Ono still lives — on Dec. 8, 1980. The glasses in the below photo are the pair the singer was wearing at the time he was attacked by Mark David Chapman, who remains in prison for his crime.

Screen Shot 2013 03 21 at 5.50.54 PM

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China Is Now The Largest International Box-Office Market

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Global ticket sales broke records in 2012, hitting $34.7 billion internationally, thanks to the strength of foreign markets and a rebound at the domestic box office. 

Overall, the box office rose 6 percent last year, according to a state of the movie industry report released Thursday by the Motion Picture Association of America.

The findings were further evidence that Hollywood's obsession with crossing language and cultural barriers to broaden its footprint is paying off in dividends. In particular, China, with its burgeoning population of moviegoers, announced itself emphatically as the dominant foreign market last year.

It surpassed Japan to be the biggest international source of box office revenue, contributing $2.7 billion in total. That was a 36 percent jump from the previous year and may be partly attributable to the country loosening restrictions on the number of foreign films that can be shown in its theaters.

global box office

But it wasn't alone. All international markets, with the exception of Europe which fell 1 percent to $10.7 billion, grew in 2012. Even the United States and Canada, which saw declines in 2011, painted a more salutatory picture this past year.

Box office in North America rose 6 percent to $10.8 billion last year; the first time it has grown since 2009. Admissions in the U.S. and Canade also reversed a two year slide, increasing 6 percent to 1.36 billion, while ticket prices remained flat.

As a percentage of the total box office, international markets remained flat. They contributed 69 percent to the box office, the same percentage as last year.

One place where the movie business was sluggish was 3D. The rose-tinted glasses had been all the rage in recent years, as studios were eager to embrace a format that allowed them to tack on a healthy surcharge and get on the post-"Avatar" bandwagon.

Movie theater, fan, film, Yet, the number of 3D releases fell from 45 to 36 in 2012. The format's contribution to the overall box office in the United States and Canada remained stable, with 3D movies contributing $1.8 billion in ticket sales. That was roughly in line with last year, but a drop from a high of $2.2 billion in 2010.

The numbers also showed that studios ignore Hispanic moviegoers in this country at their own peril. Although, Hispanics only represent 17 percent of the population in the United States and Canada, they comprise 26 percent of ticket buyers. Studios like Lionsgate and Universal have made a point in recent years of targeting this demographic, particularly with genres like horror that tend to appeal to Hispanics.

There was some heartening news for an industry that has feared it is losing the kids to other diversions like video games and iPhones. In 2012, the number of frequent moviegoers who went to the cinema once a month or more increased in nearly every age group. The largest frequent moviegoing age groups (18-24 year olds and 25-39 year olds) both grew.

The popularity of adult dramas like "Lincoln," however, may have led to more gray hair in the audience.

Moviegoers aged 40 to 49, accounted for  5.8 million frequent moviegoers in 2012, a big jump compared to the 3.3 million they made up in 2011.

The term "film" itself may soon become an anachronism. Particularly in this country, the conversion from film to digital is nearly complete. In 2012, the number of digital screens in the U.S. increased by 29 percent to 19,570. They now account for 83 percent of all U.S. screens, which spells bad news for those straggling theaters, many of them independently owed and operated, who have yet to pay tens of thousands of dollars for new digital projectors.

Globally, over two-thirds of the world’s nearly 130,000 cinema screens are now digital. There's a reason the mantra for theaters is convert or die.

SEE ALSO: Gerard Butler's latest film is using Vine to make it more popular >

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HBO Has A Secret Plan To Finally Offer HBO GO To People That Don't Subscribe To Cable (TWX)

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HBO has an excellent streaming service called HBO GO.

However, to use HBO GO, you need to be an HBO subscriber. And to be an HBO subscriber, you need to have cable.

There are a lot of people that don't want to pay the $100 or so for cable, but do want to watch HBO's excellent programming.

To accommodate those people, HBO's CEO is looking into selling HBO GO as a broadband internet add-on, Reuters reports.

Nothing is set in stone just yet, but this is loose idea of how it would work. If you subscribe to cable Internet, but not cable TV, you could pay an extra $15 a month to get HBO GO. So, if your Internet bill is $60 per month, buying HBO GO would bump it to $75.

HBO, unlike Netflix, relies on cable companies for distribution. It doesn't want to upset its partners by going direct to the consumer.

This system sounds like it could be a nice compromise.

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More Tweets Means Higher TV Ratings, Nielsen Says [THE BRIEF]

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kerry washington

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:

The more people are tweeting about a show, the higher its ratings are, says Nielsen. A study shows that for the 18-34 age bracket, a 4.2 percent increase in Tweets means a 1% ratings rise — and that's for a midseason show. It has already been noted that Twitter has drastically helped propel the ratings for "Scandal," on ABC.

Can you match the brand to the parent company? 

Targethired Rick Gomez, who has previously worked at MillerCoors and PepsiCo, as its new SVP of brand and category marketing. 

Laura Maness is the first-ever U.S. chief growth officer at Havas Worldwide. She was previously an svp for business development and marketing at SF-based Propane studios. She also worked at DraftFCB and other digital shops.

Here's a list of the 2013 North American Effie winners.

Net income grew by five percent at Havas last year.

Speaking of Havas,Agency Spy reports that there have been recent cuts in the NY office.

Previously on Business Insider Advertising:

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Meet Shiri Appleby: The Sanest Actress On 'Girls'

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shiri applybyUnlike the dysfunctional twenty-somethings that we've grown to love on the HBO hit, Shiri Appleby's character, Natalia, really seems to have her life together, making her the sanest girl on "Girls." 

We got the opportunity to talk to Shiri, who gave us some surprising answers about what Adam Driver is like in real life, her move towards directing, and how far she's come since her twenties.

How did you get the role on Girls?

Well, I'm friendly with Jenni Konner--executive producer on the show, and I've been wanting to get into directing.

So I had been talking to her about coming to New York to shadow one of their directors, which is basically like an internship where you follow a director around during prep and production to learn about directing television and how they direct specifically on that show. So when I was out there shadowing Jesse Peretz on episode eight actually, Lena asked me if I would want to come do the show, and I was thrilled. So that's how I got the part.

It was definitely like a best case scenario.



Lena Dunham is famous for blurring the line between reality and fiction. Did being on set feel like another episode of Girls, or are the actors more distinct from their characters than we imagine?

You know, I really only worked with Adam, and he's definitely different from the character he plays on the show. He's like a really grounded guy. He's very thoughtful and very open with me. We got along really, really well.

I think the character on the show is obviously a lot more troubled and has a lot of demons. And if Adam Driver has those demons, I haven't met them!

I think that his character is something that he's definitely created between him and Lena. I haven't worked enough with the other actors to really have a fair comment on them.



Natalia meets Adam after her mom sets her up on a blind date. Has your real mom ever interfered in your love life?

Oh yes. Definitely. She's never set me up on a blind date, but she was definitely a participant on my dating journey.



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John Mayer Announces First Tour In 3 Years — Here's Today's Buzz

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SEE ALSO: Yoko Ono tweets photo of John Lennon's bloody glasses >

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7 Comedians' Epic Disses Of Jay Leno

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Conan OBrien Jay Leno

In 2010, Jay Leno and the NBC brass behind him ousted Conan O'Brien from the network in what would become known as "The 'Tonight Show' Conflict."

After the incident made Leno look like a bully, his fellow comedians and late night colleagues didn't all react kindly.

The same is now happening in what appears to be a repeat situation — but this time it's Leno in the hot seat, with pressure to keep up with his younger competition like Jimmy Kimmel.

With NBC rumored to be giving 62-year-old Leno's coveted late night time slot to 38-year-old Jimmy Fallon, many are saying Leno is just getting what he had coming. 

Jimmy Kimmel is Jay Leno's most outspoken competition.

  • “As a comedian, you can’t not have disdain for what he’s done. He totally sold out,” the ABC late night host told Rolling Stone in January, calling Leno "a master chef who opened a Burger King.”
  • “Everyone is better than Leno,"  Kimmel bluntly told New York Magazine of his competition.
  • On Wednesday, Kimmel told CNN's Jake Tapper: "Obviously NBC is looking to move on, because they did it once already. This would be the second time that this has happened. So it makes perfect sense. And Jimmy Fallon is doing a great job. And he’s very popular. And so, I mean, hey, eventually, it’s going to happen one way or the other. I mean, one way or the other, it gets going to have to happen, right?"


Conan O'Brien was burned by Leno, and now says he has nothing in common with the auto-lover.

  • "The odds are we will both leave this Earth without speaking to each other, which is fine," O'Brien told The Hollywood Reporter after the 2010 "Tonight Show" controversy. "There's really nothing to say. We both know the deal. He knows; I know. I'd rather just forget ... It helps that almost everybody involved in the craziness has been relieved of their jobs."
  • "He and I are different, so we didn't have a lot to talk about in common," O'Brien said during an appearance on Letterman. "I didn't own many automobiles that were made before 1904, primarily of brass and leather… There are very few ways in which he and I relate. We're not interested in the same things. He was my lead-in. He was the host of 'The Tonight Show.' I was the host of 'The Late Night Show.'"


Jimmy Fallon joked about the rumors he is replacing Leno.

  • Fallon opened his show this week by jokingly addressing the rumors: “I have to talk about the rumors that came out today which say that I’ll be moving up to 11:30, or as my parents call it, ‘Umm, still too late.’ Actually the rumors are true: NBC is turning 'The Tonight Show' into a diving competition. So exciting."




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Christian Bale Is Unrecognizable In His Latest Role

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Christian Bale is no stranger to altering his appearance for a role.

He's often shed weight for films, whittling himself down to one third of his body weight in one instance. But Bale's latest role has him going to the other weight extreme.

Here's what the 39-year-old looks like normally, at "The Dark Knight Rises" premiere with his wife, Sandra Bale, in July 2012:

Christian bale wife

For his role as an industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year in 2004's "The Machinist," Bale lost 63 pounds by living on a diet of apples, coffee and cigarettes:

Christian Bale scary skinny The Machinist

For 2010's "The Fighter," Bale again shed weight to play a boxer-turned-drug addict. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role portraying Dicky Eklund:

Christian Bale The Fighter

For his latest role as a '70s con man-turned-FBI agent, Bale went to the other weight extreme and packed on the pounds.

The untitled David. O Russell film is currently shooting in Massachusetts and also stars Amy Adams (pictured below) as well as "Silver Linings Playbook" actors Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.  

"Bale plays Melvin Weinberg, a con man turned FBI worker who directed the Abscam sting operation, which resulted in the conviction of several corrupt U.S. congressmen," reports People.

Check out Bale's new look below:

Christian Bale fat People magazine

SEE ALSO: "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer unveils dramatic weight loss >

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People Are Spending Millions Of Hours Every Month Watching Others Play Video Games

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call of duty blops 2When Sonyunveiled the Playstation 4 last month, one of its new features was allowing people to share live streams of themselves playing video games with others online. 

The concept may sound silly—tuning in just to watch friends play the latest version of Halo or Call of Duty—however, the concept is far from new and is quite popular. 

People have been uploading videos of themselves playing video games on YouTube for years.  

Since June 2011, video platform and online gamer community Twitch (formerly TwitchTV) has taken advantage of this trend, allowing gamers to view other players' live streams. 

In the past year and a half, the hot startup has grown from 3.2 million unique viewers to more than 28 million this month. 

The streaming site doesn't create any of its own content.  

Rather, it relies on gamers and partners to stream live content whether it be video games, conferences, or Major League Gaming coverage (eSports). 

Looking for Sony's Playstation 4 announcement? It was streamed on Twitch. 

Want to watch people create worlds out of bricks in Minecraft or compete for money while playing video games? It's all on Twitch. 

Users can stream their own broadcasts by adding Twitch's broadcasting software development kit (SDK). 

Twitch website

The trend of viewing video game live streams is finally catching on enough for game consoles to begin integrating Twitch's technology onto their platforms. 

At the end of last year, Twitch partnered with some of the biggest names in video game business from Electronic Arts to Activision, and Sony Online Entertainment 

Using Twitch's SDK, game platforms Sony, EA, and Activision connect their games to Twitch and allow players to broadcast their gameplay. 

Currently, the most viewed games on the site include PC games "League of Legends," "Dota 2," and "World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria." 

However, "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" and "Minecraft," PS3 and Xbox games, are now a fairly popular streamed games as well.  

According to Twitch, its content now gets viewed more than 133 million hours per month.

Compare this to the 3 billion hours per week we're estimated to play video games as a whole on the planet.  

minecraftPeople aren't solely heading to Twitch to watch video games.  

Others use the site to raise money for charity while Twitch has also given away scholarships for gamers.

According to CEO Emmett Shear, more than $3 million has been raised using Twitch as a platform to date.

Why stream video games? 

Back in 2010, before Twitch, there was another was known as Justin.tv and featured a variety of live streams not inclusive to video games. 

Twitch's Vice President of Marketing, Matthew DiPietro tells Business Insider the decision to focus solely on video game streaming came after they noticed a spike in live video stream views. 

"In 2010 we noticed that the video game category on Justin.tv was growing abnormally faster than the rest of the site," says DiPietro. "It eventually became such an outsized portion of the site’s content and activity that we had started building features specifically for this gaming community. Because of the tailored feature set and the skyrocketing growth, it made sense to roll it out as its own product and brand with its own unique set of offerings."  

As for why people view others playing online, DiPietro says it may be so others can tune in, watch their friends, and then chat live about the gameplay that's occurring. 

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YouTube Channels Will Soon Be Allowed To Charge Users

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YouTube invited advertisers, partners and many more to its new Los Angeles production space on Wednesday, staging an alternate version of the presentation it will deliver advertisers in New York next month.

While most of the presentation consisted of videos of some of YouTube’s most recognizable personalities -- Chris Hardwick, Grace Helbig -- it also staged a private talk afterwards between journalists and two of YouTube’s top executives, Robert Knycl, head of content, and Lucas Watson, head of sales.

Here are five things we learned from the presentation and meeting:

1. Some YouTube Channels Will Soon Charge Viewers.

For YouTubers who create great value with a small but passionate fan base, “the potential of paid channels unlocks an opportunity to create new revenue streams,” Kyncl told reporters, teasing what has been previously reported. Then, later, he hinted at the real news: Channel creators will need to teach people to take out a credit card. But lest you think Kyncl was affirming this would happen, he then added: “That being said, we have nothing to announce at this time.” Translation: wait a few months.

It makes sense. YouTube knows that channels with devoted followings could earn a tremendous amount of money by charging viewers. Fans of Helbig or Hardwick’s Nerdist Channel will fork over cash to watch their videos. For a platform dependent on advertising revenue, subscriptions would benefit both its creators and its own economics. 

Also Read: 'Gangnam Style,' Gotye and 'Kony': Top 10 Trending YouTube Videos of 2012 (Video)

2. YouTube Has Adapted to the Mobile Revolution.

“Mobile consumption took everybody by surprise,” Knycl said. “Not just YouTube, but every big service out there, the whole world. It’s going incredibly fast.” As Kyncl noted, thousands of companies are adapting to a new world order where the vast majority of people have a smartphone on them at all times. The revenue possibilities are as tantalizing as they are challenging.

YouTube has come out swinging. Kyncl said that 25 percent of its videos are now watched on mobile devices -- and up to 50 percent in some countries. A desire to take charge in its  own mobile future prompted YouTube to pull its app from Apple's operating system last year and relaunch one over which it could have more control.

“The rate of adoption has been amazing,” Watson said, claiming the new app has almost reinstalled its user base already. “They had to choose to do it. It’s a testament to how much people want it on the phone.”

Also Read: Freddie Wong Shatters Kickstarter Film Record, Plans to Make ‘Harry Potter’ of Web Video

sofia vergara marriage 3. Remember All Those Hollywood Stars Jumping on the YouTube Bandwagon? Forget ‘Em.

It’s been a year and a half since YouTube announced that it would fund 100 original channels, part of an effort to elevate quality of programming and reorient the service around channels (like TV).

While stars like Jay-Z, Amy Poehler and Sofia Vergara drew the headlines at the time, YouTube’s presentation Wednesday was all about talent that grew up on YouTube. It began with Shira Lazar, host of popular show "What's Trending," and ended with Philip DeFranco, one of the most successful vloggers and YouTube impresarios around.

There were sporadic mentions of Hollywood celebrities, but the most successful channels still belong to guys like DeFranco. One reason? “A lot of people who used to create and still do for TV are not used to retailing their own content,” Kyncl said. “A lot of them try -- a whole bunch succeed and a whole bunch don’t.”

4. 1 Billion Monthly Users! (But Measurement Is Still a Problem.) 

YouTube announced at the presentation that it now boasts 1 billion monthly unique visitors. Billion. Still, the online video industry needs a more effective form of measurement to assure advertisers of the numbers. If companies are going to start spending more for ads on the platform, then they need to have figures they can trust.

As often as people denigrate Nielsen numbers, advertisers know what they mean. There is no equivalent online. “It’s a question of hearing them from Google versus from an industry-accepted objective third party like Nielsen, Comscore,” Watson said. 

5. But Not a Big One.

YouTube has little reason to fret -- yet. It’s the second biggest search engine after parent company Google. And engagement, the amount of time people spend on the site, is up. That’s what YouTube cares more about because the more time people spend, the more ads they see.

“If [advertisers] spend all their money on YouTube, we’re totally standardized,” Kyncl joked.

SEE ALSO: China is now the largest international box-office market >

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Morgan Freeman Visited The Large Hadron Collider — Where They Found The God Particle

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Morgan Freeman visited the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel yesterday, where CERN scientists discovered the the "God Particle," a type of Higgs Boson.

Freeman visited the LHC before hosting the Fundamental Physics Prize ceremony in Geneva, where the seven scientists working on the Higgs Boson were honored. Freeman also hosted a Science Channel show on the Higgs, Through The Wormhole, which premiered March 20 and will be replayed March 27.

Morgan Freeman in the LHC at CERN god particle higgs

SEE ALSO: What It's Like To Work At CERN In Switzerland

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DirecTV CEO Michael White Gets A 200% Raise

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direct tv ceo michael white and snoop dogg lionDirecTV CEO Michael White’s $18 million package for 2012 gives him a 200%+ raise.

That may raise some eyebrows among DirecTV shareholders who will also vote on whether to require the company to split the chairman and CEO jobs — Michael White currently holds both titles — when they meet on May 2 in New York.

White’s big raise came in a year when DirecTV shares appreciated 17.3%. His package includes $1.6M in salary, $12.0M in option awards, $4.0M in non-equity incentives, $163,421 in deferred compensation, and $323,957 in other compensation.

The $18M award is about 3.1 times the median compensation for DirecTV’s four other top execs. That’s just over the threshold that corporate governance watchdogs say raises alarms that the chief has too much power. It also is a big change from last year when White’s compensation was just 1.2 times bigger than the rest of the pack, well within the comfort zone.

The AFL-CIO Reserve Fund submitted this year’s proposal to require that DirecTV pick an independent director to be chairman, saying that when the CEO has the job it “may hinder the ability of the Board to monitor the CEO’s performance and to provide the CEO with objective feedback and guidance.” DirecTV urges shareholders to reject the change saying that the current arrangement “promotes decisive leadership, ensures clear accountability and enhances the Company’s ability to communicate with a single and consistent voice to all stakeholders.”

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The 17 Most Expensive Divorces Of All Time

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tiger woods elin nordegren

Today we learned that Harold Hamm, the billionaire oil tycoon behind Continental Resources, could be headed for the most expensive divorce ever.

Hamm is splitting with his second wife, Sue Ann Hamm, after he allegedly had an affair.

If the couple doesn't have a prenup  and it's not known if they do  she could wind up with half of his 68 percent stake in the company, currently worth $11.2 billion, according to Reuters.

That could put Hamm ahead of Rupert Murdoch, who paid a record $1.7 billion in his divorce settlement with ex-wife Anna.

They aren't the only uber-wealthy figures who have paid out massive divorce settlements.

#17 Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving

Settlement:$100 million

A California judge refused to recognize the couples prenuptial agreement scrawled on a napkin and awarded Irving $100 million after the four years of marriage in 1989, according to Forbes.

Spielberg and Irving dated from 1976 to 1979 when she broke up with him to date Willie Nelson. The two got back together and married in 1985.




#16 Greg Norman and Laura Andrassy

Settlement:$103 Million 

Norman and Andrassy married in 1981 and were divorced in 2006 after 26 years, costing Norman $103 million, according to the AP.

In September 2007 Norman married tennis star Christine Evert and divorced 18 months later. In 2010 Norman married interior designer Kirsten Kutner.



#15 Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren

Settlement: reported $110 million 

From the moment Woods crashed his Escalade into the tree outside his Florida home in 2009, it was impossible to ignore the events leading up to his divorce after the couple's six years of marriage.

She received reported $110 million in the settlement, according to the New York Daily News.



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What It Was Like To Watch The First Screening Of 'Star Wars' With George Lucas

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star warsI was thrilled to hear George Lucas’ recent announcement that he has signed Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford to recreate their iconic characters – Luke Skywalker, Princess Lea and Han Solo — in the next Star Wars movie.

But I couldn’t help thinking, what about me?

Let me explain: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a young feature writer at The San Francisco Examiner.

I had a friend who booked Hollywood movies into theaters. He was always getting me into premieres. One day he asked if I wanted to go with him to see a sci-fi film. It was being shown on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Northpoint Theater near Fisherman’s Wharf.

“No press allowed,” he told me, “It’s a single screening by Fox and Lucasfilm to gauge audience reaction. If you want to go I can sneak you in with the projectionists. You'll have to get there early.”

I was in my 20s in 1977, and more open to invitations then I am now. So I said OK. Today I would say,  “I’m not getting out of bed for a movie.”

There was no buzz about the film. How could there be? No one had seen it. Its title, Star Wars, sounded to me like a rip-off of Star Trek, the TV series. There were no plans to make a movie of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew in those days. The sci-fi genre was considered deader than dead.

Nobody asked to see my ticket when I got to the Northpoint. “He’s tech crew,” my friend told the person guarding the door.

(MORE:Hollywood's Fascination With Aging Is Getting Old)

The Northpoint, which opened in 1967, was the last single-screen theater built in San Francisco. It closed in 1997 and is now office space. I remember going there to see Cabaret, The Exorcist, Alien and Earthquake (in Sensurround!). I once went to see a restored print of Fantasia. I saw Steven Spielberg in the lobby when it was over. I couldn’t resist introducing myself to him. He told me that the animated Disney classic was his favorite film.

At show time I took a seat next to the person who sneaked me in. "That's the director, George Lucas, sitting in front of us," my friend whispered to me. Preview cards were passed around for audience members to fill out before leaving. The auditorium was packed with people of all ages. There were a lot of families.

The theater went dark and the gold curtains in front of the Northpoint’s super-wide screen parted. Then on came the words that would inspire a pop-culture empire: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Seconds later the “Star Wars Theme” announced itself.

I was taken aback. The past? Whoever heard of a sci-fi film that didn’t take place in the future? But that was only the first of the film’s many startling innovations, which didn’t take a huge budget to achieve. Creativity rarely does.

As the film’s plot unfolded the audience became more and more pumped: cheering, laughing, clapping. It was as if we were all passengers on a fantastic journey. I’ve yet to experience a more electric moment at the movies than when Han Solo's spaceship, the Millennium Falcon, jumped to light speed. The man sitting next to me had his little girl on his lap. They both screamed with joy. The whole theater did.

At the end of the film the audience went ballistic. They couldn't stop applauding. I watched Lucas slump in his seat, overwhelmed, as if he’d just outrun the Death Star’s super laser. Attendants tried to collect the preview cards, but nobody was filling them out. There was no need.

(I later read that Fox President Alan Ladd Jr. had flown in from Hollywood for the screening and that he was moved to tears. He had green-lighted the film two years earlier and his reputation was on the line.)

(MORE:'Star Wars' Force Will Be With Us Forever)

The next day at work I tried to describe to my colleagues what I had just seen. I told them about The Force, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the cantina on Tatooine. “Star Wars is going to be The Wizard of Oz of our generation,” I proclaimed. They thought I had lost my mind. I shut up.

The test screening took place on May 1. The movie opened on May 25. I was on vacation in Barcelona at the time. I remember walking past a newsstand when I did a double take. Pictured on the cover of Time were two of the films stars, R2D2 and 3CPO. “The Year’s Best Movie” proclaimed the magazine’s main cover line. I jumped for joy.

Dear Mr. Lucas:

I hope that you do a test screening of the new Star Wars film when it’s finished and that I can be sitting behind you — as I was 36 years ago. The Northpoint Theater may be gone, but like Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, I’m still here.

Call me.

John Stark is the articles editor of Next Avenue. He has held top writing and editing positions at such magazines as Cooks' Illustrated, Body + Soul and People. For 14 years, he was a feature writer and movie critic at the San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle. Follow John on Twitter @jrstark.

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Everyone Is Talking About This Miley Cyrus 'Twerking' Video

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Miley Cyrus unicorn onesie

Earlier this week, Miley Cyrus posted a video of herself wearing a unicorn onesie (and her engagement ring) doing a dance known as "twerking."

UrbanDictionary describes "twerking" as "The act of moving/ shaking ones ass/ buns/bottom/buttocks/bum-bum in a circular, up-and-down, and side-to-side motion. Basically a slutty dance. derived from strip clubs."

Whatever the dance technically is, Miley Cyrus is pretty darn good at it and now everyone is talking about her moves. Watch below:

On Friday, Cyrus visited Ryan Seacrest and posted this photo demonstrating the latest dance craze:

Miley Cyrus Twerking twitpuc

SEE ALSO: Christian Bale is unrecognizable in his latest role >

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Carmelo Anthony Stars In The Latest 'Game Of Thrones' Promo

Geneticist Predicts What The Royal Baby Will Look Like At 25

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royal baby projection

These are images of what the Royal Baby — the offspring of Prince William and Princess Kate — could look like at 25. The baby is due in July.

Marketing specialist, freelance researcher, and content creator Nickolay Lamm worked with geneticist Jenny Chen to make these images, originally posted to MyVoucherCodes.co.uk.

Chen is a graduate student from the Broad Institute of Harvard-MIT, which is dedicated to genetics/genomics research.

Kate Middleton"According to her, nothing definitive can be made about the future appearance of the daughter and son," Lamm told Business Insider in an email. "However, some traits are more likely to appear than others ..."

Based on what we know about the genetics of facial features, he was able to make some guesses about what they would look like. These are the features he used to make the images:

  • The child has a 50 percent chance of having green eyes (like Kate) and 50 percent chance of having blue eyes (like Will). So, in the illustrations, the daughter has blue eyes and the son has blue eyes.
  • Almond-shaped eyes tend to be dominant over round eyes. Kate has almond eyes, so it's a good bet that her children will have almond eyes.
  • Kate's olive skin color is dominant over the lighter skin of Price William, so there's a strong chance the child will have Kate's skin type.
  • Kate's dark hair is dominant over William's light hair, so the children will likely have dark brown hair like Kate.
  • William and Kate do not have widow's peaks, so their child will not have this trait.Prince William
  • Kate has dimples, which is a dominant trait. So it's likely that her dimples will be passed down to her children.
  • Kate and Will have free earlobes, which is a dominant trait. So it's likely their kids will have this trait.
  • Because broad lips are dominant over thin lips, and because broad lips seem to have a history in the Royal Family, it's likely that the children will have broad lips.
  • Because both Will and Kate have oval faces, and because oval faces are dominant over square-shaped faces, it's likely that their kids will have oval-shaped faces.
  • Heart-shaped faces tend to be a characteristic of female faces, so Kate's daughters will probably take after her heart-shaped face while her sons will have jawlines more similar to Will.
  • If you look at Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, you will notice that they all have a very distinct nose shape that is flat at the bridge and a bit hook-shaped. This would suggest that this nose shape is very dominant and that Will's kids are likely to have this nose shape also.

Here are some less scientific mock ups of the Royal Offspring as a baby, from MorphThing. The boy is on the right and girl baby on the left:royal baby morphthing

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New North Korean War Propaganda Is A Step Up From Previous Endeavors

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North Korea (DPRK) has released a new propaganda video which shows their army bombarding and then invading South Korea.

Unlike the previous war propaganda — one which even ripped footage from a popular video game — this one appears to have scenes that are fully produced, almost as if the DPRK got its film buffs involved.

On the other hand, standard DPRK staples like pictures of American targets followed by explosions still thread the propaganda piece. There's also stock footage of South Korean small-arms training that the North co-opted in order to make the "battle" seem more realistic.

There's also the standard line of boasts:

Crack storm troops will occupy Seoul and other cities and take 150,000 US citizens as hostages.”

So in the end, it's just another piece of North Korean fiction.

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