Hype, SEO, backlinks and to expose Techcrunch to a wider audience by indirectly forcing finalists to link & talk about Techcrunch on their respective sites.
He's was pretty consistent on this before that interview. My guess is that his success is due to the fact that he did it for the experience of doing it, not to achieve something.
I think there is also the concept of bribery there. Give a few pats on the back of big companies, and in return hope that the next time they need to release info, they'll leak you the inside scoop
