• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 24, 2006

CBS is hoping to drum up support for the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" by releasing behind-the-scenes production footage on its Web site throughout this week. The test ties into CBS's continuing efforts to utilize the Web as a promotional vehicle for its broadcast programming, and an additional source of ad revenue.

Every day this week, CBS.com will post footage of set tours; table reads in which cast members read through the script; blooper-laden rehearsals; costume, hair, and make-up changes; and the actual filming of the show. CBS.com is offering up interviews with crew members including the writers and director. The week-long "series" will also include music from the band The88, which will be performing on the show.

Filming took place during the shooting of the "Best Prom Ever" episode, which will be airing next Monday, May 1 at 8:30 on the CBS network.

The "How I Met Your Mother" promotion is certainly not the first time that CBS has gone online to promote its TV properties. Late last month, for example, it announced a partnership with Yahoo to produce a co-branded Web site dedicated to its long-standing newsmagazine "60 Minutes." The full-blown offering is not expected until September, but Yahoo previewed the site at the end of March.

And perhaps more significantly, CBS last month successfully streamed a slew of March Madness college basketball games online over CBS SportsLine.com. The deal required cooperation between CBS's television division, CBS Sports; CBS Digital's main sports property, CBS SportsLine.com; the college sports site CSTV, which CBS recently acquired for $325 million; and, obviously, the NCAA.