Discovery to Premiere Shows Online
By Garth Johnston -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/5/2007 2:15:00 PM
Starting in the third quarter of 2007 Discovery Networks will premiere full-length episodes of its shows on discovery.com, the company announced April 5.
Two episodes a week will be put on the site in the ad-supported venture called Discovery iPremieres. Shows slated to have appear online before airing include Discovery's Dirty Jobs, TLC's American Chopper and Discovery Kids Bindi: The Jungle Girl.
The iPremieres will be packaged and sold to advertisers with bonus materials ranging from outtakes to interviews with hosts, producers and crews.
Premiering programming online is becoming increasingly commonplace. Showtime and FX both recently premiered their new shows The Tudors and The Riches online to strong results. Meanwhile NBC went one step further and put all six episodes of its mid-season comedy Andy Barker, P.I. online before the show even premiered.
