Democrats go after FBI director Comey at intelligence briefing

Von

January 14, 2017

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) — Congressional Democrats got a chance to vent frustrations toward FBI Director James Comey on Friday, for what they believe has been unequal treatment of President-elect Donald Trump and nominee Hillary Clinton .
The Democrats were part of a briefing Friday into allegations of electoral interference by the Russian government, which Comey has been investigating with other U. S. intelligence officials.
Clinton’s campaign and many Democrats partly blames their election defeat on Comey’s surprise development on Oct. 28 that the bureau would look into potential new evidence in the email case, which had been found on a laptop belonging to the husband of a campaign aide.
The announcement was not welcome news for Clinton’s White House bid, and even went against Justice Department tradition. The campaign and others later blamed the move, at least partly, for Clinton’s loss to Trump on Nov. 8.
At the same time, critics say, Comey has remained entirely silent about any potential investigation into Trump’s business ties with Russia or its president, Vladimir Putin — an issue that, like Clinton’s, surrounded the billionaire’s campaign before the election.
But the angry Democrats saw it this way — in Clinton’s case Comey acted, in Trump’s he didn’t.
Those who vented their frustrations to the FBI chief said they feel they can no longer trust him to be impartial.
„I still hold the opinion that he is a good man, but I question some of his decisions now,“ Rep. Elijah Cummings , D-Md., said. „When I left the hearing, I felt a great sense of disappointment. “
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz , D-Fla., the former Democratic National Committee chair, particularly „laid into“ Comey, sources said — as did House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and accused him of failing to notify them about Russia’s alleged hacking of a DNC server.
„You let us down! “ one Democrat yelled to Comey, who was described at Friday’s briefing as unflinching and defiant, The Hill reported .
Comey, a Republican-turned-Independent, was appointed to the top FBI post by President Barack Obama. Last July, he announced that the bureau’s investigation turned up no classified information on Clinton’s private email server and recommended no charges.
Thursday, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced that he will conduct an inquiry into the FBI’s pre-election activity.
Also present at Friday’s briefing were National Intelligence Director James Clapper , CIA director John Brennan and NSA chief Mike Rogers .

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Top Trump aide in frequent contact with Russia’s ambassador

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January 14, 2017

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser and Russia’s ambassador to the US have been in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for election-related hacking, a senior official said Friday.
Trump spokesman Sean Spicer acknowledged contacts between Michael Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but said a phone conversation occurred on Dec. 28, one day before the sanctions were levied. Spicer said the men did not discuss sanctions. He did not specifically deny additional contacts the following day.
It’s not unusual for incoming administrations to have discussions with foreign governments before taking office. But repeated contacts just as President Barack Obama imposed sanctions would raise questions about whether Trump’s team discussed — or even helped shape — Russia’s response to the penalties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly did not retaliate against the US for the move, a decision Trump quickly praised.
More broadly, Flynn’s contact with the Russian ambassador suggests the incoming administration has already begun to lay the groundwork for its promised, new closer relationship with Moscow. That effort appears to be moving ahead, even as many in Washington, including Republicans, have expressed outrage over intelligence officials’ assessment that Putin launched a hacking operation aimed at meddling in the US election to benefit Trump.
During a news conference Wednesday, Trump pointedly would not say whether he planned to repeal the sanctions ordered by Obama. He again highlighted his warmer rapport with the Russian leader.
“If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability, because we have a horrible relationship with Russia,” he said.
The sanctions targeted the GRU and FSB, leading Russian intelligence agencies that the US said were involved in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other groups. The US also kicked out 35 Russian diplomats who it said were actually intelligence operatives.
Trump has been willing to insert himself into major foreign policy issues during the transition, at times contradicting the current administration and diplomatic protocol. He accepted a call from Taiwan’s president, ignoring the longstanding “One China” policy that does not recognize the island’s sovereignty. He also publicly urged the US to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, then slammed the Obama administration for abstaining and allowing the measure to pass.
Questions about Trump’s friendly posture toward Russia have deepened since the election, as he has dismissed US intelligence agencies’ assertions about Russia’s role in the hacking of Democratic groups. In briefing Trump on their findings, intelligence officials also presented the president-elect with unsubstantiated claims that Russia had amassed compromising personal and financial allegations about him, according to a separate US official.
The Senate Intelligence Committee announced late Friday that it would investigate possible contacts between Russia and people associated with US political campaigns as part of a broader investigation into Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump acknowledged for the first time this week that he accepts that Russia was behind the hacking. But he questioned whether officials were leaking information about their meetings with him, warning that would be a “tremendous blot” on their record.
Flynn’s own ties with Russia have worried some Republicans who are more skeptical of the Kremlin than Trump appears to be. After leaving his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, Flynn made appearances on RT, a state-run Russian television network. In 2015, he was paid to attend an RT gala in Moscow, where he sat next to Putin.
As national security adviser, Flynn will work in the West Wing close to the Oval Office and have frequent access to Trump. Unlike Trump’s nominees to lead the Pentagon, State Department and other national security agencies, Flynn’s post does not require Senate confirmation.
Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador were first reported by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. The US official who spoke to The Associated Press was not authorized to confirm the contacts publicly and insisted on anonymity.
Spicer, the Trump spokesman, initially said there was one phone call between Flynn and Kislyak on Dec. 28, as well as a Christmas greeting via text messages over the holidays. He said sanctions were not part of the discussions.
“The call centered around the logistics of setting up a call with the president of Russia and the president-elect after he was sworn in, and they exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call,” Spicer told reporters Friday. “That was it, plain and simple.”
A transition official later cited a second phone call that occurred earlier in December. That official said Kislyak reached out to Flynn for the second phone call on Dec. 28, and by the time Flynn called him back, it may have been Dec. 29 in Moscow.
Trump spoke with Putin about a week after his victory. The transition team has not disclosed any other contact between the leaders. The transition official said the Russian ambassador also invited US officials to a conference on Syria later this month that is being held in Kazakhstan.
It’s unclear how US officials became aware of the contacts between Flynn and Kislyak, who has served as Russia’s envoy to the US since 2008. US monitoring of Russian officials’ communication within the United States is known to be common.
Flynn has spoken with other foreign officials since Trump won the November election, as have incoming White House senior advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said he saw nothing inappropriate in Trump’s transition team contacting Russian or any other foreign officials.

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Chicago police allowed racial bias against blacks, says scathing report

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January 14, 2017

The Chicago Police Department has violated the constitutional rights of residents for years, permitting racial bias against blacks, using excessive force and killing people who did not pose threats, according to a Justice Department report.
Among other findings, the report concluded that the pattern was „largely attributable to systemic deficiencies“ within the department and the city.
The report, which came after a year-long investigation, also cited insufficient training and a failure to hold bad officers accountable.
„The resulting deficit in trust and accountability is not just bad for residents – it’s also bad for dedicated police officers trying to do their jobs safely and effectively,“ Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
The report lays „the groundwork for the difficult but necessary work of building a stronger, safer and more united Chicago for all who call it home“.
The Justice Department began investigating the nation’s third-largest police force in December 2015 after the release of a dashcam video showing a white police officer shooting a black teenager named Laquan McDonald.
Laquan was shot 16 times as he walked away holding a small folded knife.
The video of the 2014 shooting, which the city fought to keep from being released, inspired large protests and cost the city’s police commissioner his job.
Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department has conducted 25 civil rights investigations of police departments, including Cleveland, Baltimore and Seattle.
The release of a report is one step in a long process that, in recent years, has typically led to talks between the Justice Department and a city, followed by an agreed upon reform plan that is enforceable by a federal judge.
Chicago’s report comes just days before a change in administration, from a White House that strongly backed the process to President-elect Donald Trump’s, whose commitment to federal review is unclear.
The perception that Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel badly mishandled the McDonald shooting hurt the former Obama chief of staff politically, and he may feel pressure to address many of the Justice Department’s findings to restore his political fortunes.
The Chicago department, with 12,000 officers, has long had a reputation for brutality, particularly in minority communities.
The most notorious example was Jon Burge, a commander of a detective unit on the South Side.
Burge and his men beat, suffocated and used electric shock for decades starting in the 1970s to get black men to confess to crimes they did not commit.
The McDonald video, which showed officer Jason Van Dyke continuing to shoot the teenager even after he slumped to the ground, provoked widespread outrage.
It was not until the day the video was released, which was more than a year after the shooting, that Van Dyke was charged with murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Police reports of the shooting later suggested a possible cover-up by other officers who were at the scene.
AP

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Police: Woman kidnapped from hospital as newborn found alive 18 years later

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January 14, 2017

Last Updated Jan 13, 2017 5:25 PM EST
Aiken knows that her long-lost granddaughter will need time to come to terms with her new identity, but she says her prayers have already been answered. She says she always asked God, “Don’t let me die before I see my grand baby’.”
The young woman was only eight hours old when she was taken by a woman posing as a nurse from University Medical Center in 1998.
The only picture at the time of the child was a composite, because she was taken so soon after being born, reports CBS affiliate WJAX. Police also released a sketch of the kidnapping suspect at the time.
Officials say they will not release the name the teen has been living under for the past 18 years.

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© Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamiyah-mobley-police-woman-kidnapped-as-newborn-18-years-ago-is-alive/
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Is that fitness tracker you're using a waste of money?

Von

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January 14, 2017

Fitness-tracking devices have helped Peter Dumbreck beat his personal best times for cycling three days in a row.
The racing driver and keen cyclist uses a Garmin 810 Edge cycle computer, a heart rate monitor and a power meter.
„The power meter is embedded into my left crank arm and talks via Bluetooth to my Garmin device, as does my heart rate monitor,“ he says.
„I can see my power [the force his legs are generating], which is updated every three seconds, on my Garmin screen and through training and experience know how many watts I can maintain and for how long I can do it,“ he says.
Wearable and portable fitness trackers are certainly helping serious athletes like Peter to push themselves to the limit.
But what about the rest of us? Does knowing how many calories we’re burning, how fast our hearts are beating, and how many steps we’ve taken really motivate us to do more exercise and eat more healthily?
In short, do they really work?
„They’ve made us all aware of how we treat our bodies, and they have even helped people diagnose things like diabetes and obesity,“ says Collette Johnson, head of marketing at IT consultancy Plextek.
„But I feel they could go further. “
Last year the University of Pittsburgh concluded that fitness trackers were „ineffective at sustaining weight loss“.
The two-year study, conducted by the university’s School of Education Department of Health and Physical Activity, involved 500 overweight volunteers. All were asked to diet and engage in more exercise, but only half were given a fitness tracker to help them.
The study found that the group wearing trackers lost 8lb (3.6kg), but the ones who didn’t lost 13lb (5.9kg).
„Trackers are a reliable measurement of our activity, but we can’t rely on them completely,“ says Andrew Lane, professor of sport psychology at the University of Wolverhampton.
„We can’t expect just to buy one and that’s it – some of the responsibility sits with us too. We still have to get off that sofa and complete those 10,000 steps a day. “
Prof Lane believes that, if used inappropriately, they may even start to have a negative psychological effect.
„What if we start consistently not reaching goals set for us by them? Ultimately it would lead to us feeling demotivated – the opposite effect they are supposed to have. “
Such concerns haven’t stopped the market from booming – yet.
Leading wearable fitness tracker maker Fitbit reported 2015 revenues of £1.3bn, while researcher CSS Insight forecasts that the market will be worth £16bn by 2020.
And the fact that smartwatch sales declined sharply last year, according to market analysts IDC, has led many makers to reposition them primarily as fitness-tracking devices – another indication of where the business potential lies.
But is the problem with them that they are neither accurate nor sophisticated enough yet?
„As well as providing data for us, companies need to provide coaching with this data. They need to take responsibility for the results they’re providing us,“ says Prof Lane.
And Plextek’s Ms Johnson thinks they need to understand more about the individual user.
„They need to recognise whether Sharon from Uxbridge really should be doing two hours of fitness a week, how that’s going to impact upon her body, her joints, whether she’s at risk of osteoporosis.
„Fitness trackers can be too generic, personalising them will motivate us more,“ she tells the BBC.
Apps, like the Slimming World app, may be better for achieving sustained weight loss, she argues, because they allow you to track your weight loss progress and give you incentives after it has recorded your exercise.
„There is no doubt the industry is booming, but for it to really see results it needs not only to give us results, but to make them as personalised and as accurate as possible. “
So what tech innovations are making fitness tracking more effective?
Genetics and nutrition firm DNAFit advises on how we should be training and what we should be eating after testing our genes and applying its algorithm to the analysis.
You take a saliva swab and send it off to the company’s lab. After 10 days a report tells you which exercises your body will respond to best and which foods you should be eating. The company says its technology platform has been peer reviewed and clinically tested.
Other companies such as FitnessGenes, Genetrainer and AnabolicGenes adopt similar approaches.
Jo Rooney, 35, a deputy headteacher, used the test to try to cure her stomach problems.
„My results came back quite quickly and told me that I was actually lactose intolerant and had a high sensitivity to gluten.
„This did mean quite a radical change to my diet, and a lot more forward planning, but within a week I felt a lot less bloated, lost weight and I’d stopped having stomach problems. “
Body scanners and tech built into sports clothes are also giving us more detailed results.
For example, Fit3D uses scanners to assess the whole body to calculate body fat percentage, assess posture and give body shape scoring.
While last year, OMsignal launched OMbra, a smart sports bra that tracks heart rate, breathing and distance between steps, and shares this data with a smartphone app.
Prof Lane believes that we’re also going to start seeing biometric devices integrated not just into clothes and wearable devices, but directly on to our bodies as well.
For example, US tech firm Chaotic Moon Studios – now called Fjord – has created a prototype tech tattoo – a skin-mounted monitor that connects to your smartphone to monitor heart rate, blood pressure and even track movement via GPS.
Now we just need an injection of willpower.

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Traders weigh reflation trades as momentum lags

Von

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January 14, 2017

Even as the Trump rally shows signs of petering out, the “ Fast Money “ traders said on Friday there’s still opportunities in the market as it continues to tick higher.
Trader Tim Seymour said he’s slowly adding to his positions in industrials, metals and other „reflation trades“ —sectors that do well when growth picks up. Seymour said those kinds of stocks sold off recently and would look to buy on pullbacks in oil prices.
Trader Brian Kelly said he also likes metal trades right now. He said to stick with gold and silver in a reflation environment.
Trader Steve Grasso said he’s buying broader exchange-traded funds (ETFs) because he believes the market will continue to go higher. He explained that investors who can’t predict which sectors will lead on a specific day should look at funds that track the broader market.

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Why it takes years to save for a down payment

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January 14, 2017

And for good reason: Putting 20% down costs two-thirds of the average household income, according to a new report from Zillow.
„It’s a big number,“ said Aaron Terrazas, senior economist at Zillow. „Very few are saving for a down payment in one year, it’s something they do over multiple years. And for renters who have been faced with rising rent and health care costs, it’s very difficult to put away any money at all. “
A median-priced home in the U. S. is $192,500, according to the report, which means buyers need to come up with $38,500 to put 20% down. And that figure doesn’t include added expenses associated with home buying — like an inspection and closing and moving costs.
Home prices have been rising throughout the country, largely because of strong demand for homes combined with a shortage of available homes for sale. In many markets, home prices rose much faster than incomes, putting homeownership out of reach for some buyers.
Calculate: How much house can you afford?
Home buyers in California, where home prices have exploded in the past few years, are feeling the pinch the most. For house hunters in San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles, saving a year’s worth of income wouldn’t cover a 20% down payment. They would need to save at least 180% of the average income in those cities.
„California is a particularly challenging market right now. That is why we have seen housing affordability surge to the forefront of public debate,“ noted Terrazas.
On the other end of the spectrum, buyers in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Kansas City only have to save 48% of their income for a down payment.
Related: Government-backed mortgages are about to get cheaper
But not all buyers have to put down 20% to secure a home loan. Some banks offer mortgages with low down payment options, and some FHA loans require as little as 3.5% down.
However, putting less than 20% down means a buyer probably won’t get the lowest interest rate and could face paying a monthly mortgage insurance fee. Many experts forecast rates to rise this year.
The market has been particularly tough on first-time buyers recently, which is roughly half the market, according to Zillow. They can’t rely on the equity of a home sale to help bolster their down payment savings, and they face stiff competition.
„Beyond the challenge of saving while rents are rising, inventory has been particularity tight … and inventory in entry-level, cheaper homes is even tighter,“ said Terrazas.
Here are the cities where home buyers need to save the highest percentage of income to cover a 20% down payment:
Los Angeles, California
Median 20% down payment: $118,000
% of income needed: 182%
San Jose, California
Median 20% down payment: $192,320
Percent of income needed: 182%
San Francisco, California
Median 20% down payment: $164,920
% of income needed: 180%
San Diego, California
Median 20% down payment: $105,300
% of income needed: 152%
New York/Northern Jersey
Median 20% down payment: $80,100
% of income needed: 114%
Riverside, California
Median 20% down payment: $63,640
% of income needed: 111%
Sacramento, California
Median 20% down payment: $70,040
% of income needed: 108%
Portland, Oregon
Median 20% down payment: $70,360
% of income needed: 107%
Seattle, Washington
Median 20% down payment: $82,520
% of income needed: 106%
Boston, Massachusetts
Median 20% down payment: $81,680
% of income needed: 101%
Are you in the process of trying to save for a down payment? Have you had to cut back to help bolster your savings? Email us about it, and you might be featured in an upcoming story on CNNMoney .

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Cramer warns bank stocks need to be valued entirely different now

Von

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January 14, 2017

The stock market finally turned a new leaf on Friday, and Jim Cramer says bank stocks can now be valued based on earnings.
That might seem obvious to some, but it has been a long time since actual earnings were taken into account for bank stocks.
„Bank stocks can now be valued not on net interest margins, or book values, or loan losses and Justice Department fines, but earnings … they are the cheapest stocks in the market,“ the “ Mad Money “ host said.
Investors remembered that banking is actually a good business on Friday, when they rewarded those shares with big gains after reporting, even after many of the gains were repealed by an oil-related pullback.
JPMorgan reported an 11 percent deposit growth and 14 percent core loan growth, yet the stock sells at just 12 times earnings.
Bank of America has also had strong loan and deposit growth, along with the lowest percentage of loan losses in the bank’s history.
Even after scandal, Wells Fargo still had 6 percent deposit growth.
Under President-elect Donald Trump „… I think there will be a recognition that the banks have too much capital and they need to be allowed to dividend more of it to their shareholders or make more home loans,“ Cramer said.
Cramer also expects compliance expenses to peak, and automation to replace expensive people who examine the paperwork.
Ultimately, with banks now valued on earnings, the „cheapest stocks in the market“ could have a big run ahead of them.
Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up!
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The nagging Trump rally question on every investor's mind has been answered

Von

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January 14, 2017

JPMorgan chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said on Friday he is comforted by a Trump administration. He’s not the only one who should feel that way.
The nagging question on the tip of every investor’s tongue is whether or not the Trump stock market rally had gone too far, too fast. The market has been flat since mid- December. But after seeing the earnings reports from our nation’s biggest banks on Friday, the answer is no. And the feeling of relief to those who follow financial markets closely is difficult to overstate.
Why? Bank stocks have led the rally since last November’s presidential election, going from unloved by investors to becoming anchor positions in many a portfolio. After years of suffering the indignity of massive fines, increased regulatory oversight and receiving the blame for the Great Recession, bank stocks have replaced consumer staples and utilities as the must-own stocks.
Ask any market veteran if they think it is a positive when banks lead rallies, they’ll say yes, in unison. Simply put, when banks lead a stock market rally, it is an indicator that loan demand is rising, that business is percolating and that the economy is on firmer footing. It’s also the go-to investment choice if one believes interest rates are heading higher. Banks make more money on their net interest margin, meaning they make more money on their massive customer deposits.
But today was the moment of truth for the Trump rally because JPMorgan, Bank of America and scandal-plagued Wells Fargo reported quarterly earnings for the first time since the election. Investors were worried these banks wouldn’t be able to live up to their elevated expectations.
JPMorgan takes the title as the best beat on both earnings and revenues and otherwise, a squeaky clean quarter from the nation’s biggest bank. Bank of America beat the bottom line, with a small miss on the top line and an optimistic forecast going forward. Wells Fargo had a tough quarter, but based on how the stock is performing today, investors are obviously pleased that it didn’t do worse in spite of its recent scandal. JPMorgan and Bank of America touched new 52-week highs on Friday.
Additionally, the quarterly reports from the aforementioned banks corroborate other glowing news on the economy. Consumer sentiment, holiday sales, wage growth and automobile sales have been either elevated or improving as of late. Yet interest rates and inflation remain historically low. This is about as Goldilocks for investors as it gets.
No one could, or should, rule out future stock market volatility, which has always been a normal occurrence. But if you view banks as the economy’s canary in the coalmine, as I do, then you’ve got some pretty darn healthy canaries. Stop doubting the rally. It’s the real deal.

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An Oscars Tradition Dies, But Why Not Announce the Nominees in Primetime?

Von

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January 14, 2017

Earlier this week at the American Society of Cinematographers’ nominees announcement luncheon, a publicist friend tipped me off to the fact that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was planning on something different with its own nominations reveal this year. She didn’t know what it was, but she said someone had suggested she not bother getting up early on Tuesday, Jan. 24, to trek it over to the Academy’s offices on Wilshire Boulevard for the annual gathering of publicists and journalists.
Now we know what that was all about .
The Academy announced Friday that it will forgo the assembled audience and instead reveal the nominations through its “own production,” airing on a global live stream and through local broadcasters, including ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
My friend was bummed out, and it’s understandable why. For many, nomination morning is their summit. That cheering and applause you often hear when unexpected names are called — that’s the hard-working publicists who played a big part in pulling it off. Those kinds of moments can put this behind-the-curtain aspect of the season out in front, and who knows, perhaps that’s part of the Academy’s thinking; the organization has always maintained that it would prefer campaigning be minimized (despite offering the single greatest opportunity of the season to do so).
Nevertheless, some are feeling left out.
“You have taken away what I have always tried to explain to people as being the cherry on the top of my awards season sundae,” wrote Dorothea Sargent, an awards consultant and publicist since 2003, in an open letter to the Academy on her Facebook page. Comparing the tradition to waiting on Broadway reviews to roll in at Sardi’s in New York, she continued: “Nomination morning means more to me than the actual awards ceremony. I see it as a place to gather with this crazy band of publicists and consultants I call my colleagues. I use it to measure my performance and question if I did or didn’t do enough, what worked, what didn’t worked, was there more I could have done.”
Oscars Make Slight Changes to Nominations Announcement
For others, though, Friday’s announcement is a reprieve. Nomination morning is an early day for them that begins well before the 5:30am PT announcement, after all.
“I feel like I can sleep another hour and a half instead of waking up at three o’clock, so selfishly, I’m pretty excited about it,” another consultant told me. “You don’t sleep the night before, because you’re so nervous, and the morning comes and you’re like, ‘Oh God, I have to do this.’ But you get there and I don’t know, there’s something about the community. But I guess I can get to the office quicker and start rolling calls, so it’s a time saver.”
One member of the Academy’s public relations branch told me he had been suggesting this for years, as the event is “costly to stage: elevator guys, security guys, all-nighter, etc.”
Others, meanwhile, noted that doing things this way allows AMPAS brass to dodge immediate, sometimes difficult questions. Last year, for instance, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs was besieged by queries about the #OscarsSoWhite scandal, which came to quite a head with films like “Beasts of No Nation,” “Creed” and “Straight Outta Compton” missing key nominations.
However, for the Academy, this could — or at least should — be the first step toward something bigger. The Oscar nominations announcement has been a missed revenue opportunity for quite some time. What is keeping it from being a primetime special like the Grammys or professional sports drafts, heavily promoted, hosted, and with advertising (non-endemic, probably) sold against it?
The reason for an early morning reveal has always been to capitalize on the day’s news cycle, but it’s sort of an old school mentality, and you’ll obviously get that out of a night time special. Everyone will certainly be talking about the nominees the next morning.
I’m not a programming head, so I don’t know what that would mean to the bottom line, and an Academy rep told me there are no plans for such a thing at this moment. And sure, the Academy wants a global audience. But I think it’s something worth exploring, rather than just giving “Good Morning America” a ratings shot in the arm.
For now, though, a beloved tradition is gone.
“I have often said that even if I won the lottery I would continue to do what I do because I love doing it and because I love that dark January morning I spend every year on Wilshire Boulevard,” Sargent said in her letter. “You have taken that away and I am saddened.”