IMDB to stream companion viewing on Oscar night

Thousands of people will search IMDB while watching the Oscars, mostly to remember where they have seen actors before, recalling previous winners, or browsing an artist’s previous work. This year IMDB announced the first-ever “IMDb Live Viewing Party, Presented by OREO Chocolate Candy Bar.” The event will be a live companion show to the Academy Awards, offering “unique, entertaining and informative coverage of Hollywood’s biggest night”.

The live broadcast hosted by Dave Karger (IMDb Special Correspondent) and Rachel Smith (host of Amazon’s Style Code Live) will stream live on IMDb.com,  as well as Twitter and Twitch. IMDb’s nearly five-hour live show will begin at approximately 5 PM Pacific on Sunday, February 26, and will focus on a fun, freewheeling conversation during which Dave Karger, Rachel Smith, celebrity guests and industry influencers will provide informative expert commentary to complement and enhance the experience of watching the Academy Awards telecast. IMDb’s live show will feature celebrity guests and will also integrate IMDb information and proprietary, real time data, along with pre-produced interviews with nominees Justin Timberlake and Jeff Bridges.

Twitter’s live stream of IMDb’s Live Viewing Party will be available globally for free to logged-in and logged-out users on Twitter and connected devices. Tweets about the #Oscars will appear in a timeline along with the live video on Twitter, available at imdb.twitter.com, in Twitter’s explore tab or via @IMDb.

IMDb’s editorial coverage of the 89th Academy Awards will include real-time winner announcements, photo galleries, trivia quizzes and more.

“This year we are taking our coverage of the Academy Awards to an entirely new level,” said Col Needham, IMDb’s founder and CEO. “In addition to our extensive online coverage, we’ll be producing our first-ever VIP industry viewing party and companion show, which will stream live across the world on IMDb, Twitter and Twitch. We are thrilled that IMDb’s live coverage of The Academy Awards, a unique mix of expert commentary, humor and IMDb data will also serve as Twitter’s Oscars-night broadcast and that Twitch users can personalize and share our live show as well.”

“Twitter is where people go to see what’s happening in real time around the Academy Awards,” said Anthony Noto, COO at Twitter. “Our collaboration with IMDb will provide live commentary from both experts and fans throughout the telecast, as well as interviews with some of Hollywood’s best.”

“We believe new OREO Chocolate Candy bars are so delicious they are award-worthy,” said Samantha Greenwood, Senior Category Director, Chocolate – North America at Mondelēz International. “On Hollywood’s biggest night we are excited to team up with IMDb to showcase our big news and help deliver a memorable viewing experience to consumers.”