2008 Woodie Awards
The networks want TV to be everywhere
Ward Triplett and David Frese
Issue date: 1/29/07 Section: Entertainment
Ward Triplett and David Frese
McClatchy Newspapers
Some day soon, the television and the personal computer will be nearly indistinguishable.
It's happening before our eyes. We're able to time-shift when we watch Heroes on our digital video recorders, and we're sneaking peeks at snippets from last night's Colbert Report on You Tube. To say nothing of downloads for our iPods.
Not one to overlook an audience (or a revenue source); the networks are taking their first steps in streaming video of old episodes of our favorite shows. We took a quick tour of the networks' sites, and here's what we found.
But first, a couple of notes: Some of this content is changing daily, so what's here today may be gone later today. Plus you'll need a broadband or high-speed connection. And sometimes even that's not enough to watch the videos uninterrupted.
NBC:
Full episodes of NBC's shows can be found on nbc.com, but the network also offers highlights, previews, replays and a load of Web-only content.
To get to the full episodes, you'll click on video and scroll down to NBC Rewind. In addition to select episodes of Heroes, My Name Is Earl and Friday Night Lights, full seasons of 30 Rock and The Apprentice are available.
The network also has previews of the upcoming dramas The Black Donnelly's and the noir Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum. The previews and 2-minute replays can be found by clicking on NBC 24/7.
The network's collection of Web exclusives is extensive and beats the other networks hands down. The stars of Heroes talk about their characters; Tina Fey of 30 Rock answers reader questions; and the characters Dwight and Kelly from The Office keep hilarious blogs.
Other recent exclusives have included a meet-the-models link from Deal or No Deal and deleted scenes from The Office.
NBC had a legal row with YouTube.com after fans sent copies of the "Lazy Sunday" skit from Saturday Night Live to that site. Now NBC has its own sketch material neatly placed here. Some SNL sketches still sneak up on You Tube as well as a growing number of parodies of (Blank) in a Box.
McClatchy Newspapers
Some day soon, the television and the personal computer will be nearly indistinguishable.
It's happening before our eyes. We're able to time-shift when we watch Heroes on our digital video recorders, and we're sneaking peeks at snippets from last night's Colbert Report on You Tube. To say nothing of downloads for our iPods.
Not one to overlook an audience (or a revenue source); the networks are taking their first steps in streaming video of old episodes of our favorite shows. We took a quick tour of the networks' sites, and here's what we found.
But first, a couple of notes: Some of this content is changing daily, so what's here today may be gone later today. Plus you'll need a broadband or high-speed connection. And sometimes even that's not enough to watch the videos uninterrupted.
NBC:
Full episodes of NBC's shows can be found on nbc.com, but the network also offers highlights, previews, replays and a load of Web-only content.
To get to the full episodes, you'll click on video and scroll down to NBC Rewind. In addition to select episodes of Heroes, My Name Is Earl and Friday Night Lights, full seasons of 30 Rock and The Apprentice are available.
The network also has previews of the upcoming dramas The Black Donnelly's and the noir Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum. The previews and 2-minute replays can be found by clicking on NBC 24/7.
The network's collection of Web exclusives is extensive and beats the other networks hands down. The stars of Heroes talk about their characters; Tina Fey of 30 Rock answers reader questions; and the characters Dwight and Kelly from The Office keep hilarious blogs.
Other recent exclusives have included a meet-the-models link from Deal or No Deal and deleted scenes from The Office.
NBC had a legal row with YouTube.com after fans sent copies of the "Lazy Sunday" skit from Saturday Night Live to that site. Now NBC has its own sketch material neatly placed here. Some SNL sketches still sneak up on You Tube as well as a growing number of parodies of (Blank) in a Box.
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