NBC's Office Gets Web Broadcast
By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/16/2005 9:57:00 AM
NBC will webcast its new series, The Office, on social networking site MySpace.com (www.myspace.com) March 16, one week before the series premieres on television March 24.
The show’s 8 p.m. webcast is NBC’s first online premiere of a complete episode of a show and will be available to MySpace’s 11 million users. The Office, a mockumentary of the modern workplace, is adapted from the British cult hit, which aired for two seasons on the BBC beginning September 2001. NBC will air the premiere episode “Diversity Day” in a broadcast TV preview March 24 at 9:30 and repeat the episode in its normal timeslot March 29 at 9:30.
NBC’s MySpace webcast, which requires no registration to view, follows recent webcasting efforts from Showtime, which earlier this month streamed the premiere of Fat Actress on Yahoo, and Bravo which streamed the premiere of Queer Eye for the Straight Girl on AOL in January.
As part of the partnership with NBC, MySpace will air an abbreviated “webisode” version of The Office’s premiere on March 17 and allow registered members to share workplace mishaps, contribute to Office blogs, read actor profiles and enter a sweepstakes for an Office party with a private screening at their own workplace.
The Office is executive produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervaise (star of the BBC version), Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein. Steve Carell (The Daily Show) heads an ensemble cast.
No related content found.
