NBCU Sets Launch Date For First Web-Based Show

Gemini Division NBCU first Web-based show"Gemini Division," the first Web-based, branded entertainment property to come out of the newly reorganized NBC Universal Digital Studio, is set to go live on August 18. The 50-episode series, which stars Rosario Dawson and Justin Hartley, will premiere on NBC.com and SciFi.com--as well as its own dedicated microsite, GeminiDivision.com--in addition to being distributed via video on demand (VOD), mobile and gaming platforms.

Advertisers including Intel, Cisco, Microsoft, Acura, and UPS are integrated into the series' sci-fi story line, which revolves around Dawson (playing an NYPD vice cop) and her discovery of a secret war between a race of artificial life forms and the covert agency tasked with hunting them down. Set in the not-too-distant future, the show features technologies such as ultra mobile PCs and other devices, an ideal point of entry for tech-centric brands like Intel and Microsoft.

The chipset maker, in particular, is featured prominently on the "Gemini Division" microsite, as the development teams used Intel Xeon-based servers during its production. There is also space for standard banner advertising. Upon launch, visitors to the microsite will find widgets and behind-the-scenes clips--as well as community-based content--to get them more engaged with the series, with new episodes rolling out weekly.

Viewers can also access the new episodes through the major cable and satellite TV providers' VOD channels, as well as through Microsoft's Xbox LIVE and Zune, Amazon Unbox, NBC Mobile, and a number of online video portals.

NBC Universal revamped the Digital Studio in April, and announced a content development, creation, and discovery partnership with OMG Digital (and its sister agencies Davie Brown Entertainment and OMG Entertainment and Sports). The entities are tasked with working together to develop original content that would align with advertiser's needs. OMG Digital, however, was not involved in the production of "Gemini Division," as NBC tapped Santa Monica, Calif.-based Electric Farm Entertainment for the show's technological and creative development.

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