Blogs Show Early Frontrunners in Oscar Horserace

Blogs Show Early Frontrunners in Oscar Horserace

Foxx Leads Leo, Swank Besting Imelda, 'Eternal' Outrage over the 'Passion'

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- As Hollywood is buzzing about yesterday's Academy Award nominations, so too are the Internet and Blogosphere. New Media Strategies (NMS), an Arlington, Virginia-based online intelligence and word-of-mouth marketing company, surveyed 325 Academy Award watchers in the most popular entertainment and Oscar-focused blogs and online communities to get a read on the early front-runners.

"Conversations all over the internet, from message boards to blogs and beyond, now allow us to get a true pulse in real-time on the Oscar horserace," said NMS CEO Pete Snyder. "Studio execs and entertainment insiders watch very closely what people are saying online."

In the Best Picture category, The Aviator is flying high (50%), over leading contender Million Dollar Baby (31%), followed by Sideways (9%), Finding Neverland (7%), and Ray (3%).

NMS found Academy watchers believe by a 2 to 1 margin that Jamie Foxx will take Best Actor honors over Leonardo DiCaprio (49% to 19%). Academy Award- winner Hilary Swank is expected to repeat her earlier win, besting Vera Drake's Imelda Staunton in the Lead Actress category (40% to 29%).

"Oscar snubs to Eternal Sunshine, top-grosser Passion of the Christ, and to Sideways actor Paul Giamatti have online Oscar watchers seeing red," said NMS Online Entertainment Brand Manager Clay Dunn.

Backlash is expected to subside and most Academy Award watchers online think this race will become more fluid as the studio campaigns kick-in. "There is a lot of early buzz and excitement out there, that's for sure, but this year's Oscar race has no heir to the Return of the King throne," continued Dunn.

About New Media Strategies

New Media Strategies pioneered the online brand promotion and protection industry. An online marketing and communications firm, NMS uses the power of the Internet to give clients and their brands a competitive advantage online, while safeguarding their products and services from the effects of negative perceptions and attacks online. Working closely with some of the world's leading corporations, NMS has become the "eyes, ears, and voice" for many of the top brands online. Leading companies such as AOL Time Warner, Coca-Cola, HBO, Newscorp, Northwest Airlines, Orbitz, RCA Records, Red Bull and Wyeth all rely on NMS to add value to their brands and guard their bottom lines. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, NMS was founded by former pollster Pete Snyder, who also serves as CEO. NMS was recently featured in Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 50 Great Places to work in Washington, D.C., and listed as one of the Inc 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2004. To learn more, visit http://www.newmediastrategies.net/.

*Survey Methodology: Using our Cyberstrike(TM) software and Online Brand Perception(TM) methodology that scours the Internet for online consumer opinion, New Media Strategies surveyed over 300 Academy Award watchers (January 25, 2005) in the most popular Entertainment and Oscar-focused blogs and communities on the Internet (including Oscarwatch.com, GoldDerby.com and dozens more).


Source: New Media Strategies

CONTACT: Sarah Nicholson, +1-202-298-7600, x201, Sarah@dbcpr.com, for
New Media Strategies

Web site: http://www.newmediastrategies.net/


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