
And the Winner is?? New Technology helps Rate Oscar's Show
March 24, 2002--CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.-- We all know the Best Picture
and other Oscar winners from the Academy Awards Ceremony. But, how
did Whoopi do as emcee? Who gave the best acceptance speech? Who
gave the worst speech. And what about the show overall? What were
the best and worst moments?
During Sunday's Academy Awards, PeopleSpace used its newest technology,
the Real-Time Rating Tool (tm), to answer these questions, and others.
The RTRT lets thousands of users rate a TV show or event as it progresses
and continuously view the accumulated tally. Participants can vote
in intervals as short as every five seconds, giving a timeline of
in-depth feedback for everything from advertisements to political
speeches to the newest TV series. Users can vote using their computer,
interactive TV systems or even wireless devices and cell phones.
The collected data is a valuable resource to advertisers and agencies.
And Sunday night, the users voted! PeopleSpace President Jack Smith
says, "This isn't based on some isolated focus group sitting
in a hotel meeting room. This is the opinion of real viewers in
real time. People were voting from home and from parties. They were
hanging with friends, not in a darkened room with a bunch of strangers
and a moderator. We wanted a good test for our new technology, and
it worked flawlessly. We've evaluated the thousands of responses
and the results are fascinating."
PeopleSpace creates and runs online marketing and community events
for companies ranging from Sesame Street to Lifetime TV to Playboy.
PeopleSpace asked participants to rate the various components of
the Academy Awards Ceremony for their impact and entertainment value.
The users could vote as often as every 5 seconds. The database tracked
the time of the vote and basic information about the voter (location
by zip code, age and sex).
Smith says, "We can run these as purely scientific polls with
a balanced pool of people. We were using this as a tune-up for the
commercial launch of our iTV technology. In this case, it was all
just for fun!"
Smith continues, "The results from the awards ceremony vary
from a traditional 'what did you think' poll. Our data is based
on an ongoing and evolving opinion of the show moment by moment.
We got some interesting results. There were some definite high points,
but overall the ratings for the Ceremony hovered at the mid-point
of the rating scale."
Rating Basis
The following results are based on votes cast using a 1 to 5 scale,
with 1 being Bad, 3 being Ok and 5 being Great. The average, overall
response was determined for various segments, presenters and winners.
The voting is based on thousands of responses from registered users
of the Real-Time Rating Tool.
Red Carpet Entrance
ABC's production of the Red Carpet portion before the main awards
show failed to excite the audience. Almost in every case, the ratings
were high at the beginning of an interview and then faded as the
Q & A progressed. The two stars that rated highest were:
Will Smith - 4.55
Halle Berry - 4.40
Both stars also rated highest on the ratings for the best tuxes
and dresses seen on the Red Carpet. Sissy Spacek rated the lowest
with a 2.8.
Summary (Top Dozen Moments)
Halle Berry Acceptance - 4.85
Cirque du Soleil - 4.75
Sidney Poitier Tribute - 4.65
Denzel Washington Acceptance 4.65
Whoopi Trapeze Opening - 4.6
Randy Newman Acceptance - 4.6
Woody Allen (NY Tribute) - 4.55
Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson Bit (Best Costume Presenters) - 4.50
Best Song Compilation - 4.40
Ron Howard Acceptance - 4.40
Roberto Benigni (Ben Hur discussion) - 4.35
Julian Fellows (Best Original Screenplay Acceptance Speech) - 4.30
The Best Speech
Most speeches on award's night fell in the middle ground (see below).
Perhaps it was all of the reading from notes rather than expressions
of emotion. Based on the votes of the viewers, Randy Newman seemed
to hit a chord (no pun intended). But the award for the best speech
goes to Halle Berry. There was no mistaking the excitement and emotion
of her acceptance. The teary and joyful speech garnered the highest
rating with a 4.85.
The Best Moments
The audience seemed ready for a good time and rated Whoopi's trapeze
entrance among the highest of the show with a 4.6 out of a possible
5. But Sidney Poitier topped her with his moving speech (4.65).
Another hit (probably because it was the second most energetic thing
of the evening) was the Cirque du Soleil acrobatics synched to movie
scenes (4.75). Then, of course, for the best moment, see Best Speech
above. Our raters connected with Halle Berry and gave her the highest
rating of the evening.
The Middle Ground
Supposedly the nominees had been coached before the show to forgo
lists of names of friends and co-workers and to instead show emotion
and energy. Winners did indeed avoid long lists, but they seemed
to have forgotten their emotion as well. Most of the winners fell
in the middle ground with ratings in the 3.2 to 3.8 range.
Worst Moments
The lowest ratings of the evening went to many of the presenters
(who averaged in the low 3's). So, perhaps luckily, most of the
worst moments were just that... moments. A badly timed joke here
or a muffed line there. Of all the major category winners, Jennifer
Connelly who won for Best Supporting Actress rated the worst with
a 3.7 (not horrible, but the lowest of the group).
Additional Results
For more feedback, contact company President, Jack Smith (434-825-2168)
or send email to Sales@PeopleSpace.com.
PeopleSpace, Inc. is a leading developer of Internet marketing
and promotional tools, featuring games and other interactive products
designed to attract, retain and entertain web visitors. PeopleSpace
clients include Sesame Street, Playboy, AOL, Ask Jeeves, Electronic
Arts, Fox Sports, iVillage, NBC, The House Armed Services Committee
and others. From initial concepts to hosting, maintenance, and data
mining, PeopleSpace develops a broad range of interactive marketing
solutions. Products and services include games, interactive events,
promotional activities and tools for viral marketing campaigns.
All can be branded to market any company or product. More information,
as well as free games, can be found at www.peoplespace.com.

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