Hollywood makes a big showing in the Webby Awards nominations

Hollywood may still be struggling to make money on digital platforms, but at least it's getting some respect.

NBC just barely missed topping the list for the most nominations in the Webby Awards, which honor digital websites, online video, and mobile content. With 12 nods, it was just one behind the New York Times, which got 13 in the nomination list unveiled today.

MTV Networks wasn't far behind either, with 10 nominations for its digital content.

CBS had six, although four of those came for site it bought last year as part of CNET Networks.

ESPN got four nods, but that actually puts it behind NBC in the sports category. Thanks in parts to its Olympics coverage, five of the peacock network's total 12 nods came for sports.

Other traditional media companies getting some Webby love included the BBC eight times, five for the Sundance Channel, four for the Discovery Channel with four nominations, and even two nominations for the Creative Artists Agency in video categories, making it the only (and I believe the first ) talent agency to get a nod.

The online luminaries who vote for the Webby Awards didn't seem too impressed with studios' efforts to promote their films, however. In the "movie and film" category, Focus andLaika's " Coraline" was the only movie to get a nomination for its own website. The other four went to the IFC and Sundance Channels, PBS' "POV" documentary series, and a "film event" called Pangea Day.

The television category seemed to follow the same trends we've seen at the Emmys, with the broadcast networks getting entirely shut out and HBO in the lead. Though the pay network didn't produce either site
itself, its "John Adams" miniseries and a promotional site for its "Flight of the Conchords" series both got a nod. The other nominees were the Sundance Channel (again!), BBC's "Survivors Interactive," and kids/hipster favorite "Yo Gabba Gabba."

The one category where Hollywood somewhat surprisingly dominated was "broadband." Designing video players for their content has apparently resulted in some impressive innovation. Both CNN and NBC's video services, along with MTV's video heavy "Real World" site, got nominations.

In addition, three of the nominated online games were created, or are currently run by, big media: Cartoon Network's "FusionFall," the Disney-acquired Club Penguin, and Adult Swim's "Rock Paper Scissors: Extreme Deathmatch."

Finally, Hollywood also made a good showing with its made-for-the-Web series, even if the general consensus in town these days is that they're tough to monetize and rarely worth the costs except for promotional or brand extension purposes. Three of the nominated comedy series came from media conglomerates: The WB's "Children's Hospital," "The Outburst" Web series spun off from NBC's "The Office," and Comedy Central's "Weekly Evils." NBC's "Heroes: the Recruit" got a drama nod, as well as "Quarterlife," the project that started as an ABC pilot, because a not particularly successful Web series and social networking site, and then had a very unsuccessful NBC program.

The full list of nominees in nearly 70 categories (no wonder acceptance speeches are only five words long) is here.