The New York Times led the pack of nominees for the Webby Awards on Tuesday, sharing the spotlight for the Oscars of the Internet with the BBC, actor Zach Galifianakis and comedian Stephen Colbert.

The Webby Awards, now in their 14th year, highlight the best use of the Internet across a range of categories from the worlds of entertainment and news.

The New York Times stood out by garnering 15 nods, two more than last year, when it also led all nominees.

They have a prolific and diverse approach to delivering content, quite frankly, and I think they do a lot of new things in a lot of different mediums, said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards.

Davies noted the New York Times was among the first newspapers to have its reporters send out short tweet messages on the social networking website Twitter.com.

The newspaper's online nominations this year came in such categories as best news, photography and writing.

British broadcaster BBC was the second most-nominated group with nine nods, followed by six each for the comedy websites CollegeHumor and The Onion.

Colbert, who won Webby Person of the Year award in 2008, was recognized again this year with a nomination for his website ColbertNation.com.

Actor Zach Galifianakis, the rising star of comedy movies The Hangover and Youth in Revolt, earned a nomination in the comedy category for his online talk show Between Two Ferns, which features his interviews with celebrity guests.

In the viral video category, a father's videotape of his disoriented son after dental surgery received a nomination. The video is called David After Dentist, and it has been seen more than 50 million times on the website YouTube.com.

Davies said that the past year has been marked by the rise of mobile applications for cell phones and other technology that provide users with services and content.

Foursquare, which was nominated in the mobile social networking category, is an example of that new trend, Davies said. It allows users to earn points by going to certain locations, and keeping track of where their friends have been.

The Webby Award winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in New York on June 14. A panel of judges that includes rock star David Bowie will choose a list of winners, and the public will get a chance to pick their favorites.

Information on further nominees can be found at http://www.webbyawards.com.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

The New York Times