Oscars reach out to YouTube

Even Oscar can8217;t fight the Information Age. The 79th Annual Academy Awards has surrendered to the Internet, with a newly renovated Oscar.com.

Even Oscar can8217;t fight the Information Age. The 79th Annual Academy Awards has surrendered to the Internet, with a newly renovated Oscar.com. Think on-camera interviews with all 177 nominees, a blog from host Ellen DeGeneres and an Oscar night 8220;Thank You Cam,8221; through which winners can offer gratitude to anyone they neglected to mention on stage. Think 8220;Find the 79s,8221; an online game in which those who find all the number 79s hidden in the Oscar broadcast win fabulous prizes.

8220;We want the Oscars to be a two-screen experience,8221; said Laura Ziskin, who is producing this year8217;s broadcast. 8220;I8217;m big on content, so I want to transmit as much content as possible. The web site is natural.8221;

Yes, DeGeneres will refer to the Web site throughout the show, and every time the broadcast goes in and out of commercial break there will be another mention.

8220;Research has shown that viewers of event shows, like the Oscars or the Super Bowl, watch them with their computers right there,8221; said Bedonna Smith, the show8217;s creative consultant. 8220;We wanted to expand the experience, to leverage the themes of the show onto the small screen.8221;

If this year8217;s ratings turn out worrisome, Ziskin and her team can always supplement them with Web site hits. According to a Disney/ABC spokeswoman, the traffic the site is receiving daily is already much higher than last year.

The Oscar web site makeover comes at a time when traditional media outlets, including television and newspapers, are trying anything and everything to get a share of the YouTube audience. Oscar-related sites and blogs abound, although care must be taken when it comes to names 8212; the Academy owns the copyright to 8220;Oscar8221; and recently pulled rank on Oscarwatch.com, insisting the site, which has been around for seven years, change its name or be shut down.

Oscar.com launched about a dozen years ago as a fairly static repository of lists, times and trivia. Those who log on now can watch a series of 8220;real people8221; quoting famous movie lines; shadow stylists, shoe designers and jewellers on weekly 8220;Road to the Oscars8221; reports; enter a Pick the Winners Sweepstakes; or read the Gold Rush, a blog describing the nuts and bolts of production. Or choose the best celebrity companion through the game Your Perfect Oscar Date.

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During the broadcast, mobile-phone users will be able to download a backstage blog and highlights from DeGeneres8217; opening monologue.

Or, if the Web site should prove to be too successful, the entire show could soon be 8220;Exclusive to Oscar.com!8221;

Now, if only online visitors could vote8230;