NBC to use the power of internet to promote upcoming television shows

NBC Universal has said in a statement that they would offer episodes of some of its new prime-time shows for free online viewing on a computer. The company is hoping that such a service would help them promote their shows to television viewers, as they would transit from a PC to the television set.

They would be airing the first four episodes of comedies “30 Rock” and “Twenty Good Years”. In addition, they would also broadcast first eight episodes of dramas “Kidnapped,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “Heroes” on its ad-supported broadband player at NBC.com.

These episodes would be available online a day after it is shown on the television. The free viewing of these episodes would be allowed for a weeks’ time.

Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Digital Content and Cross-Network Strategy added on this new initiative: “We are looking to reach as many people as possible and to get as much sampling (of shows) as possible for the new series. This is an experiment with us. We are just committing through November sweeps now.”

The company is also already due to launch a high-resolution, large-format version of NBC’s broadband player, called NBC/24 this coming October.