Global advertising spending rose 2.8 percent in the first half of 2013, according to latest Nielsen data.
Gains in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region drove worldwide growth, but European ad spending continued to decline amid economic challenges.
"Marketers continue to gradually increase their global ad spending" as growth accelerated to 3.5 percent in the second quarter, according to Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.
It didn't provide absolute dollar figures for ad spending.
Latin America ended the first half of 2013 with an ad gain of 13.1 percent, while Asia posted a 6.4 percent increase, according to Nielsen.
The Middle East and Africa region reported a 3.9 percent improvement in ad spending, while North America was up 2.7 percent. Nielsen didn't break out the U.S. performance.
Europe remained the main laggard in the first half of the year with a 6 percent ad spending decline, according to Nielsen.
U.K. ad revenue declined 2.3 percent, for example. The only gains over the first six months of 2013 in Europe came in Switzerland (up 0.6 percent), Norway (up 2.5 percent) and Greece (up 7.4 percent), which last year saw a big drop amid its economic crisis.
"Although many marketers remain conservative with advertising budgets, those in Latin America continue to buck the norm," Nielsen concluded. In Europe, "marketers remain modest with their ad budgets amidst the region's continued fiscal crisis," it said.
Argentina was a key contributor to growth in Latin America region with a gain of nearly 30 percent. Indonesia, China and the Philippines helped lead growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which reached $51 billion in ad spending in the first half on 2013.
The Nielsen Global AdView Pulse measures spending on TV, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, outdoor and Internet display advertising.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ford's Theatre will reopen its doors and resume performances Wednesday, using private funding, even though the government shutdown has continued into a third week.
Theater officials announced Tuesday that the national historic site and performance space will reopen Wednesday. Theater trustee Ronald O. Perelman, the chairman and CEO of MacAndrews and Forbes Holdings Inc., donated $25,000 in emergency funding to pay for the theater's operations for the next eight days.
Ford's Theatre, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, is a National Park Service site. A private group runs the theater's programming.
On Wednesday, the theater will resume performances of "The Laramie Project," which is part of the theater's Lincoln Legacy Project focusing on diversity and equality. The production marks 15 years since Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was abducted and killed in Laramie, Wyo. Remaining tickets are $25 each.
The Ford's Theatre Society has been losing about $100,000 in revenue per week since the theater went dark at the start of the highly anticipated "Laramie Project" production due to the government shutdown, said spokeswoman Lauren Beyea. The show will run through Oct. 27, but will not be extended because the actors have other commitments.
An agreement was made to reopen Ford's Theatre after several states agreed to provide funding to reopen national parks in other areas. The National Park Service agreed to a similar arrangement for the theater.
The Carolinas offer up the best of everything, from lush forests and scenic mountains to rich and rewarding cultural experiences. There are warm beaches, charming historic neighborhoods, and bustling metropolises — all with excellent schools, lots of jobs, and plenty of parks. Here are some of the best places to lay down roots in the Carolinas.
1. The Beauty of Wilmington, NC
Wilmington is a really interesting place to live, in part because it’s a film and television favorite. You won’t get completely inundated by actors and camera crews, but you may occasionally find one of your favorite stars next to you at the gas station.
Moreover, since the downtown area is a nationally listed historic place, you’ll experience a great deal of beauty and history. It’s a wonderful place for tourism, but even residents take advantage of the trolley tours and cobbled streets.
The estimated median price of a house or condo in Wilmington hovers around $216,600.
According to the school rating system employed by the online residential real estate site Trulia, the schools in the Wilmington area have a parent rating of five out of five stars.
Image via Flickr by Steve Sherron
2. Get to Greenville, SC
If you want a real “down-home” vibe without feeling boxed in, head farther south to Greenville, S.C. This gorgeous town is still close to North Carolina, plus it’s strategically located between Charlotte and Atlanta. You’re surrounded by the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains, which allows for plenty of outdoor activities and fresh-air fun. Even the climate welcomes you, so you’ll always feel comfortable as you take in the local color.
The median listing price of homes in this area is around $174,000. The Greenville County School District’s 95 schools have received four parent review stars.
Image via Flickr by Jason Barnette
3. Explore the Gateway of Charlotte, NC
Charlotte is well-known as the official Gateway to the New South, and it lives up to that name. Shea Homes offers many new-home communities in Charlotte — a beautiful, bustling, and booming city.
Every neighborhood is very carefully planned around the best jobs, schools, parks, and the city is known for its environmentally friendly passions. You’re near everything, including lush green forests, yet you get a sizzling city lifestyle.
Charlotte homes have an average listing price of around $316,000. That is about $126 per square foot on average. The most popular neighborhoods include Myers Park, which is at the top of the price range with an average of $925,000, Ballantyne West, Steele Creek, and Dilworth – all priced around $500,000 on average – and Highland Creek at $214,000.
The schools have consistent, outstanding parent ratings with no ratings lower than 4.5 stars.
Image via Flickr by Pam Broviak
4. Move On to Myrtle Beach, SC
If you’ve always dreamed of living near the beach, you’re spoiled for choices in both the Carolinas. However, nothing beats Myrtle Beach for beauty and excitement. From the boardwalk to the open-air concerts, it feels like summer all the time, and you don’t have to visit during vacation to enjoy it.
Plenty of year-round residents tout the benefits of living here, and many consider it the most enviable spot in all of Horry County. You should also know that it’s the third most popular spot for relocating, so why not jump on the bandwagon?
The average listing price in Myrtle Beach is $230,000 and the median sales price is $51,000. None of the school ratings drop below 3.5 stars with most of the ratings at five stars.
Image via Flickr by Curtis and Eric
5. Have Fun in Hickory, NC
Hickory is charming, scenic, and richly historic. Named after the well-known Hickory Tavern, this town still offers rest for the weary — namely, those weary of big cities and cold climates. There are plenty of jobs, considering that it’s the Furniture Capital of the World, and the tourist infrastructure is also pretty amazing. Although its population tops 40,000, it still has a sweet hometown feel, especially given its closeness to the mountains and the beach.
Hickory is affordable as well, with an average listing price of $216,000 and a median sales price at $130,000. That’s $86 per square foot on average. The Catawba County school district has 28 schools and the Hickory school district has nine schools. All of the schools have high parent ratings.
If you’re looking for a new hometown, pick one of the marvelous towns or cities in the Carolinas. They’re vast, green, exciting, and filled with Southern hospitality. Overall, the housing market in this area is bouncing back from the recession. The asking price for properties for sale is around $97,500 in North Carolina and $81,300 in South Carolina. Compare these figures to the national average of $89,600, and the Carolinas are keeping up.
Image via Flickr by Government & Heritage Library, State Library of NC
This guest post was written by Angela Lombardi, a freelance writer focusing on real estate and home improvement. She wrote this article on behalf of SheaHomes.com.
Tagged as: Carolinas, charlotte, Greenville, Hickory, Myrtle Beach, north carolina, south carolina, wilmington
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2007 file photo, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, talks with Khowst Province Gov. Arsallah Jamal at the Tirazye District Center in Khowst Province, Afghanistan. Afghan officials say a bomb placed inside a mosque in the country’s east has killed Jamal, now the governor of Logar province. They say the explosion took place as Jamal was delivering a speech on Tuesday morning, Oct. 15, 2013 to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, Pool, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2007 file photo, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, talks with Khowst Province Gov. Arsallah Jamal at the Tirazye District Center in Khowst Province, Afghanistan. Afghan officials say a bomb placed inside a mosque in the country’s east has killed Jamal, now the governor of Logar province. They say the explosion took place as Jamal was delivering a speech on Tuesday morning, Oct. 15, 2013 to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, Pool, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2007 file photo, then Khowst Province Gov. Arsallah Jamal meets with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Khowst Province, Afghanistan. Afghan officials say a bomb placed inside a mosque in the country’s east has killed Jamal, currently the governor of Logar province. They say the explosion took place as Jamal was delivering a speech on Tuesday morning, Oct. 15, 2013 to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, Pool, File)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A bomb planted inside a mosque killed the governor of Afghanistan's eastern Logar province as he was delivering a speech Tuesday morning to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, officials said.
The explosion at the main mosque in the provincial capital of Puli Alam killed Governor Arsallah Jamal and wounded 15 people — five of them critically, said the governor's spokesman, Din Mohammad Darwesh.
Jamal, 47, was a close confidant of President Hamid Karzai and served as his campaign manager during the 2009 presidential elections. He also served as governor of eastern Khost province until he was appointed to his current post in Logar in April.
A high-profile target, he had survived a number of assassination attempts in the past, including with suicide bombings.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban have been targeting Afghan officials, military and NATO troops as part of their campaign to retake territory as international troops draw down ahead of a full pullout at the end of 2014.
Tuesday's explosion took place as Jamal was speaking inside the mosque to worshippers gathered for one of Islam's holiest days, said Logar's deputy police chief, Rais Khan Abbul Rahimzai.
The bomb was apparently planted inside the microphone in the front part of the mosque, said two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Jamal was recently in the spotlight following his revelation that a senior commander of the Pakistani Taliban was taken into custody by American forces in Logar province on Oct. 5.
U.S. officials confirmed that Latif Mehsud, a leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, was captured by U.S. forces in a military operation.
At the time, Jamal told The Associated Press that Mehsud was captured as he was driving along a main highway in Mohammad Agha district. The road links the province with the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Pay for nonprofit hospital CEOs varies around US; average more than $500k
Public release date: 14-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Todd Datz tdatz@hsph.harvard.edu 617-432-8413 The JAMA Network Journals
Compensation for chief executive officers at nonprofit hospitals varies around the country but averaged almost $600,000 in a study of top executives at nearly 2,700 hospitals, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
Little information is known about how hospital CEOs are paid and the factors that affect their compensation, according to the study background.
Karen E. Joynt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues examined seven data sources, including publicly available tax forms for nonprofit hospitals in 2009. Their study included 1,877 CEOs responsible for 2,681 hospitals.
The CEOs had an average compensation of $595,781 in 2009, according to the study findings. The CEOs paid the least (median compensation of $117,933) were mainly responsible for small, nonteaching hospitals in rural areas. The highest paid CEOs (median compensation of more than $1.6 million) oversaw larger, urban hospitals that were often teaching institutions.
Hospitals with higher patient satisfaction scores tended to pay their CEOs more and advanced technology at a hospital was also associated with substantially higher CEO pay, according to the study results. However, a hospital's provision of charity care was not associated with CEO compensation and there were no significant association between compensation and a hospital's financial performance or performance on process quality, mortality or readmission rates.
"Among the quality metrics we examined, only patient satisfaction was consistently associated with CEO compensation," the study concludes.
(JAMA Intern Med. Published online October 14, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.11537. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: An author disclosed financial support. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Commentary: Do Hospitals Really Reward Glitz but Not Quality?
In a related commentary, Warren S. Browner, M.D., M.P.H., of the California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, writes: "Not surprisingly, the authors found that bigger, glitzier, and more prestigious hospitals the Yankees and Dodgers of health care pay their CEOs a lot more money compared with other hospitals."
"Their conclusion that advanced technology drives CEO pay might be right, but an observational design cannot rule out alternatives, such as CEOs at fancier hospitals earn more because they are worth more, or because the members of the board compensation committees at glitzy hospitals are more accustomed to higher incomes," Browner continues.
"On the surface, their most disturbing finding was that CEO pay correlated with patient satisfaction, but not with quality. They see this as a missed opportunity and recommend that hospital boards provide incentives for CEOs to meet quality goals. That advice seems strange, since every hospital CEO I know who receives incentive compensation already has quality-related goals. By contrast, patient satisfaction correlated with CEO pay, likely because the subjective experience called patient satisfaction is easy to measure, even though what it actually means is unclear," Browner concludes.
(JAMA Intern Med. Published online October 14, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.7669. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Pay for nonprofit hospital CEOs varies around US; average more than $500k
Public release date: 14-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Todd Datz tdatz@hsph.harvard.edu 617-432-8413 The JAMA Network Journals
Compensation for chief executive officers at nonprofit hospitals varies around the country but averaged almost $600,000 in a study of top executives at nearly 2,700 hospitals, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
Little information is known about how hospital CEOs are paid and the factors that affect their compensation, according to the study background.
Karen E. Joynt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues examined seven data sources, including publicly available tax forms for nonprofit hospitals in 2009. Their study included 1,877 CEOs responsible for 2,681 hospitals.
The CEOs had an average compensation of $595,781 in 2009, according to the study findings. The CEOs paid the least (median compensation of $117,933) were mainly responsible for small, nonteaching hospitals in rural areas. The highest paid CEOs (median compensation of more than $1.6 million) oversaw larger, urban hospitals that were often teaching institutions.
Hospitals with higher patient satisfaction scores tended to pay their CEOs more and advanced technology at a hospital was also associated with substantially higher CEO pay, according to the study results. However, a hospital's provision of charity care was not associated with CEO compensation and there were no significant association between compensation and a hospital's financial performance or performance on process quality, mortality or readmission rates.
"Among the quality metrics we examined, only patient satisfaction was consistently associated with CEO compensation," the study concludes.
(JAMA Intern Med. Published online October 14, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.11537. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: An author disclosed financial support. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Commentary: Do Hospitals Really Reward Glitz but Not Quality?
In a related commentary, Warren S. Browner, M.D., M.P.H., of the California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, writes: "Not surprisingly, the authors found that bigger, glitzier, and more prestigious hospitals the Yankees and Dodgers of health care pay their CEOs a lot more money compared with other hospitals."
"Their conclusion that advanced technology drives CEO pay might be right, but an observational design cannot rule out alternatives, such as CEOs at fancier hospitals earn more because they are worth more, or because the members of the board compensation committees at glitzy hospitals are more accustomed to higher incomes," Browner continues.
"On the surface, their most disturbing finding was that CEO pay correlated with patient satisfaction, but not with quality. They see this as a missed opportunity and recommend that hospital boards provide incentives for CEOs to meet quality goals. That advice seems strange, since every hospital CEO I know who receives incentive compensation already has quality-related goals. By contrast, patient satisfaction correlated with CEO pay, likely because the subjective experience called patient satisfaction is easy to measure, even though what it actually means is unclear," Browner concludes.
(JAMA Intern Med. Published online October 14, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.7669. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
###
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| E-mail
| Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Roxanne is a gorgeous Doberman mix, on the petite side at 42 lbs., and good with most other dogs. She’s 4 years old and has moderate energy, so Roxanne would prefer a fairly active owner who would take her walking or hiking. After a little exercise, this affectionate girl will be happy to chill by your side.
Chiquita is a 1-and-a-half-year-old Chihuahua who gets along great with other little canines, but would love to be your lap dog most of all. She’s just one of many adorable Chihuahuas at our center… we have a Chi for everyone, so come on down and meet these awesome dogs today!
Ruffy wants to be your one and only feline! This stunning fella is just a year-and-a-half-old who is super-social with people. Your lonely days will be over with this sweetheart by your side.
Kittens! We have kittens of every kind imaginable, such as pretty little Phoebe here, and they're all looking for a great home. Even better, adopt two kittens for a lower adoption fee… they always do better with a buddy!
Best Friends Animal Society Adoption Center is located at 15321 Brand Boulevard, Mission Hills, California. All pets are spayed or neutered, microchipped, vaccinated, and ready to go to their forever home immediately. Adopters also receive one month of veterinary insurance, a bag of pet food, collar with customized tag, and a leash (dogs) or carrier (cats) for their new pet. The center is open from noon to 8 p.m. daily. For more information, visit bfla.bestfriends.org or call 818-643-3989.
If you want a real “down-home” vibe without feeling boxed in, head farther south to Greenville, S.C. This gorgeous town is still close to North Carolina, plus it’s strategically located between Charlotte and Atlanta. You’re surrounded by the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains, which allows for plenty of outdoor activities and fresh-air fun. Even the climate welcomes you, so you’ll always feel comfortable as you take in the local color.
Charlotte is well-known as the official Gateway to the New South, and it lives up to that name. Shea Homes offers many new-home communities in Charlotte — a beautiful, bustling, and booming city.
If you’ve always dreamed of living near the beach, you’re spoiled for choices in both the Carolinas. However, nothing beats Myrtle Beach for beauty and excitement. From the boardwalk to the open-air concerts, it feels like summer all the time, and you don’t have to visit during vacation to enjoy it.
Hickory is charming, scenic, and richly historic. Named after the well-known Hickory Tavern, this town still offers rest for the weary — namely, those weary of big cities and cold climates. There are plenty of jobs, considering that it’s the Furniture Capital of the World, and the tourist infrastructure is also pretty amazing. Although its population tops 40,000, it still has a sweet hometown feel, especially given its closeness to the mountains and the beach.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
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