Showtime to Launch New TV Show on Major Blogs
Showtime, an US pay cable network that is also available in other parts of the world via satellite, utilizes the internet to launch a new TV series, called The United States of Tara. According to UPI.com, the first episode will be aired for free on sites like TV.com, Yahoo and Blockbuster.com, but also on blogs like Gawker, and social networking sites like Facebook. You’ll even be able to catch it in your mobile phone if you’ve got the necessary services from AT&T or Verizon. Read more about the series over at the Showtime site. The premiere is on January 18th.
My bet is that we’ll see more launches like this, especially using service like YouTube. It would be pretty easy to gain traction in the blogosphere if you played your cards right, so don’t be surprised when PR reps from TV companies start emailing you…
Thord Daniel Hedengren is a designer, writer, and blogger, and also the former editor of The Blog Herald. He used to be a hotshot in the gaming industry in Sweden, but sold everything and went International. Most recently he wrote a book called Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, and does loads of kickass design.
They also released the show very early to Netflix Instant… we watched the first episode from the service via our TiVo last week!
I think leveraging all of the available channels/services is a smart thing to do — we’re definitely interested in the show now, and are having to decide if it’s time to subscribe to Showtime!