HBO offers free 'Treatment' online

Posted on ZDNet News: Feb 6, 2008 6:15:00 AM

The doctor is in--five nights a week. In an attempt to generate a following for its new show In Treatment, HBO will stream the first 15 episodes (of 43) gratis. The cable network has never before streamed that many episodes for free--and has never before aired a prime-time drama five nights a week. In the series, which debuted January 28, therapist Paul Weston (played by Gabriel Byrne) treats a different patient on each of four nights. On the fifth night his character is treated by his own psychotherapist (played by Dianne Wiest).

"We knew this was going to be a huge challenge (in marketing the show), due to the large viewing commitment, so our goal was to lower potential entry barriers created by that commitment," said Chris Spadaccini, vice president of advertising at HBO. Given the change in viewing habits, Spadaccini said the cable network is offering episodes to fit viewers' schedules as well as to provide numerous "catch-up" possibilities. The full-streaming episodes are deployed on HBO.com and HBO On Demand. The network is also placing the content on its podcast channel, which can be downloaded on iTunes. HBO has also created two-minute recaps for all 43 episodes.

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