Internet Academy Taps MLB Advanced Media for Live Broadcast of 15th Annual Webby Awards

NEW YORK, March 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Further redefining the landscape of live online entertainment and technology, executives from the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences and MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, today announced a two-year partnership to broadcast the annual Webby Awards ceremony to a global Internet audience starting this June.

The unique partnership unites the prestige and popularity of The Webby Awards, hailed as "the Internet's highest honor" by The New York Times, with the unparalleled interactive broadcast technology of MLBAM, annually the Internet's largest presenter of live events.  The 15th Annual Webby Awards will take place on June 13th in New York City and will be presented live online on www.webbyawards.com.

Under the agreement, The Webby Awards and MLBAM will collaborate to produce and deliver a state-of-the-art, interactive, high-definition live streaming experience that takes full advantage of MLBAM's award-winning technologies. In addition to social media and multiple stream integrations, viewers will have the ability to share in-progress highlights, interact on multiple screens using custom developed mobile phone and tablet apps, and experience a tricked-out video stream that provides not just a front row seat to the ceremony, but also the ability to participate and shape the event as it unfolds.

"The opportunity to work with MLBAM - an organization whose technology, know-how and track record is unmatched in the world when it comes to broadcasting live events wasn't something we could pass up," said David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of the Academy. "We see this as an opportunity for our industry to set a new standard for live broadcasts."

Now in its 15th year, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Famous for its five-word speeches (Al Gore: "Please don't recount this vote." Jimmy Fallon: "Thank God Conan got promoted."), The Webby Awards is a wildly entertaining, irreverent celebration of Internet and pop culture where stars like Amy Poehler, Martha Stewart, Zach Galifianakis, and Prince share the stage with the creators of Twitter, YouTube, I Can Has Cheezburger, and the Internet itself.

"We are honored to collaborate with The Webbys on a digital-first approach to their award ceremony," said Dinn Mann, Executive Vice President, Content, MLBAM. "The people behind The Webbys, technologically and in terms of A-list entertainment, want to produce an experience that pushes envelopes in addition to opening them. Programming worthy of its winners; that is the mission."

The Webby Awards partnership will build on the high-quality production and entertainment values that MLBAM has powered for live sporting events over the past 10 years. In 2010 alone, MLBAM delivered over 250 million live streams of baseballs games and provided technological infrastructure and operations support for over 12,000 live events for a host of partners. It is also the developer of the top-selling At Bat suite of mobile applications.

Nominees for the 15th Annual Webby Awards will be announced in April and winners will be honored at a New York City ceremony in June.

About The Webby Awards:

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile websites. Established in 1996, the 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Expression; AOL; YouTube; Pepsi; Aquent; Yahoo!; HP; Sony Electronics; .CO; Corbis Images; Rackspace Hosting; Motorola; Southwest Airlines; East Media; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; Museum of the Moving Image; Behance; Business Insider; Time Out New York; paidContent and The Guardian.

About MLB Advanced Media LP:

Established in June 2000 following a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League Baseball club owners to centralize all of Baseball's Internet operations, MLB Advanced Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site, www.MLB.com, and each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the most comprehensive Major League Baseball resource on the Internet. MLB.com offers fans the most complete baseball information and interactivity on the web, including up-to-date statistics, game previews and summaries, extensive historical information, online ticket sales, baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles, fantasy games, live full-game video streaming and on-demand highlights, live and archived audio broadcasts of every game, Gameday pitch-by-pitch application, around-the-clock hosted and specialty video programming and complete blogging capabilities. MLB.com offers more live events on the Internet than any other website in the world.

SOURCE MLB.com; The Webby Awards