Inside Liz Cho and Josh Elliott’s engagement celebration

Inside Liz Cho and Josh Elliott’s engagement celebration - as they're joined by a beaming Katie Couric and her new husband.

• Elliott reportedly popped the question while he and his WABC anchor girlfriend, who are both 43, were vacationing in Europe early this month
• Elliott and Cho are both divorced with children from their previous marriages
• Mutual friend and Elliott's former co-worker Sam Champion tweeted about the engagement on Monday night
• The couple announced their forthcoming marriage to friends at CAA party

TV lovebirds Liz Cho and Josh Elliott chose a night out with high-powered TV pals including news queen Katie Couric to announce their engagement, MailOnline has learned.
The couple, who have kept their romance low-key for the past two years, celebrated at talent agency CAA's TV News party at Manhattan's Hudson Hotel on Monday night.
A beaming Katie, 57, was there with her new husband John Molner, and a source said: 'It was perfect timing. Liz and Josh just told people privately - there was no official announcement, but they were so happy to celebrate with close friends.'

The couple announced their engagement to friends and TV stars including Erica Hill, Ronan Farrow, CNN boss Jeff Zucker, GMA host George Stephanoupoulos, NBC's Kate Snow, Mark Halperin, MSNBC President Phil Griffin and Harry Smith.
Cho and Elliott, who are both 43, were vacationing in Europe earlier this month when Elliott proposed, reported Page Six.
Elliott's former GMA co-star Sam Champion confirmed the news via Twitter on Monday night.
'Im not going to b at work tomorrow. @JoshElliott32 and @LizCho7 announced their engagement tnite!!,' tweeted the Weather Channel anchor.
'Friends get no better,' Elliott, who's moved on from Good Morning America to NBC Sports, wrote of Champion.
Neither Elliott nor Cho have yet to directly confirm the good news, but both retweeted their good friend Champion's celebratory message. While Liz last night flaunted a simple gold band on her wedding finger as she went on air.

He and Cho have been together since after Cho's separation from her ex Evan Gottlieb in 2012. The couple have one daughter, Louisa Simone, aged seven, from their marriage.
Elliott has also been married previously to Priya Narang and the couple have a six-year-old daughter, Sarina.
According to the Page Six source: 'It’s been very low-key, and people may not have even realized she was engaged, because she’s not wearing a standard diamond engagement ring.'

Instead, it was reported that Elliott gave her a simple family heirloom gold band.
The couple met while both were at ABC--Elliott with GMA Cho at New York affiliate WABC, where she remains.
Elliott announced his departure from ABC early this year after what were widely reported as 'heated' contract negotiations between the California native and the Disney-owned network.
He now covers a range of sports at NBC.
Cho has been an anchor at WABC news since 2003.


source: dailymail

First Take: Jim Beam is huge get for Suntory

First Take: Jim Beam is huge get for Suntory

With its purchase of the maker of the Jim Beam brand, Japan's Suntory Holdings has its eyes on both American culture — and global sales.

Bill Murray in a scene from the motion picture 'Lost in Translation': His most famous line from the film is "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."

You can offer a toast to this mega-deal for its sheer audacity. And its cultural smarts.

With news that the Japanese whiskey and beer giant Suntory Holdings has agreed to purchase the maker of the legendary Jim Beam bourbon for $13.6 billion, another chunk of Americana falls into foreign hands. But, in this case, perhaps, ably so.

Suntory — which makes Yamazaki whiskey and Premium Malt's beer — totally gets American shtick. It was, after all, among the earliest major Asian marketers to cozy-up to American celebrities to sell stuff in Japan. Way back in the "Rat Pack" heyday of the early 1970s, no less than Sammy Davis Jr., showed up in ads for Suntory brands in Japan.

Even folks who don't have the name Suntory at the tips of their tongues, probably are familiar with actor Bill Murray, whose character in the 2003 film Lost in Translation, so perfectly depicted the image of a fading American actor seeking redemption — and a few bucks — overseas. His most famous line from the film: "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."

Clearly, with this move, it is Suntory's time. Never mind that this deal between Suntory and Beam ranks among the biggest of 2014 so far. So eager was Suntory Holdings to get its hands on Beam Inc., that the maker of Jim Beam and Canadian Club liquor walks off with a $83.50 cash per share -- which is about 25% above Beam's closing price on Friday. Competing bids could be on tap, too. The combined company is expected to have annual liquor sales of more than $4.3 billion.

But even if Suntory has master plans to make Beam more of a global brand, the key is to not let the brand stray one iota from its American roots. The bourbon, produced in Kentucky, has been linked to some seven generations of the Beam family for more than two centuries. And, yes, Jim Beam was named for a real person -- James B. Beam, best-known for lifting the business from the ashes shortly after the end of Prohibition..

Beam, which also owns Maker's Mark bourbons, has had its own history of celebrity adulation. Even with agent 007.

During his high-flying days as James Bond, Sean Connery showed up in Jim Beam ads -- as did the venerable Bette Davis. More recently, even Leonardo DiCaprio -- a very tough get for advertisers -- has appeared for Jim Beam. All, of course, class acts. But, with its Southern roots, the Jim Beam brand's closest cultural links may be to pure American patriotism. And that's not likely to change one whit.

Jim Beam is a blue collar, "good ol' boy" bourbon, says brand guru Peter Madden. Its acquisition by a Japanese-based company poses at least some threat to that, he says.

But Jim Beam must remain the "quintessential American brand," says David Srere, co-CEO and chief strategy officer at the branding firm Siegel+Gale. "The best thing they could do is stay the hell away from changing that."

Or, perhaps, have agent 007 to answer to.

source: usatoday