• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 17, 2005

In a first of its kind deal for NBC, the peacock network Wednesday night debuted new prime-time comedy "The Office" via a webcast on MySpace.com, a week ahead of its March 29 broadcast TV premiere. MySpace.com is the kind of "social networking" site that NBC's promo team hopes will generate water cooler talk in advance of the TV debut.

Vivi Zigler, senior vice president of marketing and advertising services at the nework's in-house NBC Agency said it is the first time the network has webcast its content online. A nearly 13-minute clip of the premiere will be available at MySpace today through the end of the month.

As other cable and broadcast networks have relied on large Web portals like America Online and Yahoo! to Webcast their content for promotional purposes, Zigler admitted that MySpace was an unusual choice of venue for NBC. "We specifically wanted to avoid the big portals because that's been done," Zigler explained, adding that the network liked the younger composion of MySpace's audience.

In fact, MySpace has a sizable member base. The site, a subsidiary of Intermix Media, Inc., attracted 8.9 million unique visitors who generated 4.6 billion page views last month, and was the seventh most trafficked Web domain in February, according to comScore Media Metrix.

"What was really controversial was previewing it so early before it hit TV," said Zigler, adding: "'The Office' is not your ordinary show, so it's extra important to let as many people as possible actually experience it, and understand it, and get it."

At MySpace, users can fashion profiles, blog, instant message, e-mail, download music, create photo galleries, and search classified listings, events, groups, chat rooms, and user forums. Registered MySpace users can join "The Office" group on MySpace to share their own office mishaps through personal profiles, blogs, and other MySpace features.

It's becoming more common today for cable and broadcast networks to partner with major Web portals to Webcast new shows as a promotional gimmick. A few examples include America Online teaming with Bravo, an NBC-Universal-owned entity, to Webcast "Queer Eye for the Straight Girl," and before that Warner Bros. previewing its teen drama "Jack & Bobby" on AOL. Showtime and Yahoo! getting together recently to Webcast "Fat Actress" is another example.

"The Office" will air regularly on Tuesdays at 9:30-10 p.m. EST on NBC.