• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 14, 2006

The entire first episode of FX Networks' new series "Black. White." was added to MSN Video on Monday, one week after its television debut. The promotional deal, while a first for News Corp.'s FX, is part of MSN's ongoing strategy to attract viewers with top-tier television programming.

The six-part series--co-developed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler and rapper/producer Ice Cube, along with Matt Alvarez--documents the experiences of a white and a black family as they live life disguised as the opposite race.

Upon its launch, the premiere episode was not accompanied by any online ads, but the MSN TV site from which a visitor can choose from a number of offerings including "Black. White." features MSN's 50-some run-of-site advertisers.

Today, MSN Video is expected to preview part of NBC's new series "Heist"--a week before it airs on television--for about two weeks. And on Friday, it launched a Web hub for the sixth season of HBO's "Sopranos." The site--TV.MSN.com/TV/Sopranos--features a mob of video, including this season's trailer and exclusive clips, a recap of season five, popular series' moments, and an interview with "Sopranos"' creator David Chase. "Sopranos" on MSN carries run-of-site ads.

Last Wednesday, the "Black. White." premiere led all other cable shows with 4 million total viewers and 2.8 million adults 18 to 49. That's compared to the season finale of Bravo's "Project Runway," which delivered 3.4 million total viewers and 2.4 million adults 18 to 49.

Prior to partnering with MSN, FX was already using the Internet to market "Black. White." One initiative involved planting an Ice Cube music video, "Race Card," across a number of popular Web sites including MySpace, Yahoo, AOL, TVGuide.com and BlackAmericaWeb.com. The video was already made available over the video-friendly handsets of Sprint Nextel and Boost Mobile customers.

FX has employed similar viral marketing techniques in the past, like the personal MySpace page dedicated to the villain of its "Nip/Tuck" series, "The Carver."

The "Black. White." series is scheduled to run on FX through April 12.