May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Richard Tedesco

Television viewers who forget to set their VCRs or DVRs to record their favorite programs may still get to see what they missed, thanks to many broadcast and cable networks now streaming full episodes.

That's true even for pay cable's HBO, whose new psychiatry drama “In Treatment” is available free of charge. It's obviously a sampling ploy to drive $10 monthly subscriptions.

Advertiser-supported broadcasters especially lament the long-lost days when captive couch potatoes had relatively few entertainment choices. But online TV is creating new opportunities for marketers.

“We think it's a very effective way to communicate with the younger segment of the target,” says Marcie Kazdin, senior vice president, group media director for Zenith Media, which buys time for Mariel and its Frontline brand of pet products. “What we've also found is that awareness numbers are higher for those who view the ads online.”

Brands looking to boost their interactive reach will be intrigued by a recent survey by Harris Interactive, which found that 25% of adult surfers had viewed online a full-length TV show, movie or sports event.

ABC has taken the most aggressive approach among the broadcast networks, making available most of its prime-time schedule. Web surfers have launched 290 million episodes of ABC shows since September.

“Our objective is enabling consumers to access the shows anywhere, anytime,” says Alexis Rapo, vice president of digital media for ABC Entertainment.

The network's online viewership has jumped 150% over last year. Those video streams are having a discernible impact on drawing more eyeballs to TV screens.

“There is an indication that there is a net positive effect, that if they view a show online, there is a higher likelihood they will view that show on air,” Rapo says.

ABC's online audience is predictably younger, 30 years old on average — 10 years younger than the average age of the network's traditional TV audience.

Its popular shows, such as “Lost,” “Grey's Anatomy,” “Ugly Betty” and “Dancing with the Stars,” are the ones that also resonate on the Web.

A primary advertiser buys three ad pods and a pre-roll spot. The network uses another pod for its own marketing, and its local affiliates get the benefit of a fifth pod.

Toyota sponsors streamed episodes of shows on ABC.com, NBC.com and Fox .com. “The value in sponsoring streaming of full TV episodes online is that we get 100% share of voice for the whole show, so there is no clutter. It's a pretty cost-effective approach,” says Toyota spokesman Chad Harp.

Cars.com has been advertising around full episodes on NBC.com and Sci-Fi.com.

“Overall we believe it's reaching a different audience that's not exposed to our ads on traditional media,” says Carolyn Crafts, Cars.com vice president of marketing. Crafts also notes that online ads enable interactive customization so viewers can click-through to access more information.

Meanwhile, NBC and Fox have erected in a joint venture Hulu.com, an ad-supported, free clearinghouse for current TV fare including “The Simpsons,” “House” and “The Office” the morning after they air. The site also offers classics like “Miami Vice,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Kojak.”

Each half hour of a program on Hulu.com has “limited commercial interruption,” which is actually a total of two minutes of advertising from the sponsor.

Media analyst Gary Arlen attributes the flurry of online TV to audience fragmentation. “You have to pick up users wherever you can,” he says.

Arlen sees the proliferation of Web video from the networks as a direct appeal to “generation M” users, whose mobile phones are at the center of their lives. But he believes the networks' overall objectives with Web streaming are a continuing need to build TV set ratings.

“They're trying to get more audience and trying to make sure that viewers who missed a show will come back next week,” Arlen says.

For MTV, the online gambit is a continuation of a strategy that put the music video programmer on the frontline of the video Web wars with short-form content that lent itself to the first wave of Web watchers. Now, with a full slate of regular series dominated by reality formats, it's selectively streaming full and short episodes of some shows.

“We are building a generation of people who are living on demand,” says Courtney Holt, executive vice president of digital music and media for MTV Network's Music Group.

MTV's ultimate objective, admits Holt, is monetizing its online content.

“An engaged consumer is fed by multi-platforms,” says Holt. “If you're a fan, [the channel's Web presence] enables you to become the uber-fan.”

MTV's “The Hills” has drawn the broadest audience online, according to Holt. And he cites “America's Best Dance Crew” as an example of a series that grew its audience through a “cyclical” viral spiral between on-air viewers and buzz that drew Web watchers and brought them to the other screen.

Last month, the Sci Fi Channel streamed its season premiere of “Battlestar Galactica” during lunchtime on a Friday in advance of the episode appearing on cable that night. It also put episodes online, under the moniker Sci Fi Rewind, as well as specially created Webisodes that provide back stories about incidents from the prior season.

The Webisodes generated 1 million downloads, reports Craig Engler,  senior vice president of SciFi.com and Sci Fi magazine.

The initial fear of some TV programming executives that streaming full episodes could cannibalize ratings was unfounded. “We feel it's just the opposite. What we find is that they'll watch it online, watch it on air and buy the DVDs,” Engler says.

Comedy Central can't quantify the effect that online viewing is having on air, but ratings for “The Daily Show” have peaked in the last six months. Coincidentally, that's when segments became accessible online.

“South Park” has also shown a ratings surge since Comedy Central created a Web site that offers a full cache of episodes from the adult animation series' 11-year run.

Erik Flannigan, executive vice president of digital media for the MTV Entertainment Group, notes that “Daily Show” clips are often transplanted to other Web sites, where additional viewers find them. “We love that these clips take on a viral life of their own,” Flannigan says.

For more articles on entertainment marketing, go to www.promomagazine.com/entertainment.

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