• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 4, 2007

Call it dual-action marketing--and it is becoming standard practice. NBC is "premiering" the return sixth season of "The Apprentice" online days before it hits the air.

The first 20 minutes of the initial episode of the lately-struggling Donald Trump-fronted reality show is being streamed on both NBC.com and Yahoo before Sunday's 9:30 p.m. launch.

Separately, NBC and Yahoo are kicking off a season-long "The Intern" contest on the heavily trafficked portal. Visitors can predict what will happen on the next episode, with the winner getting the chance for a two-week internship with the "Apprentice" winner.

NBC has increasingly offered full-premiere episodes of new scripted shows such as "30 Rock" and "Friday Night Lights" on its Web site before air. But it's chosen to only offer "sneak peeks" of returning reality shows--such as "The Biggest Loser" and now "The Apprentice"--likely figuring that viewers are already familiar with the shows and an online taste will serve to boost "live" viewing.

With the new season of "The Apprentice" needing to post strong ratings in order to avoid cancellation, NBC's deal with Yahoo looks to allow for greater sampling and potentially interest in the on-air premiere.

The show became a cultural phenomenon in the spring of 2004, trailing only "American Idol" among the season's top shows. Ratings, however, began plunging over the following seasons to a 4.0 in the 18-to-49 demo last spring. They fell so much that NBC opted to put the show on hiatus this fall and retool it for a possible comeback, most prominently by moving the setting from New York to LA.