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Promo Plans Are Net's Biggest Series Blitz, Include Previews for Nonsubs
HBO is planning an unprecedented $10 million marketing push for the Aug. 28 debut of "Rome," its first new drama series since "Deadwood" premiered last year.
Plans include making the first three "Rome" episodes available to non-HBO subscribers via a free preview weekend, a relatively rare move for HBO, which tends to do previews with one cable operator at a time rather than nationally. Plans also call for attaching theatrical-style promotional trailers to summer movies, and the network has made a deal for a fivenight cross-promotion with History Channel.
"We're doing a variety of tactics that we think are unique and unprecedented," said Eric Kessler, HBO's president of sales and marketing. "We're not thinking of 'Rome' as having a premiere date, but to think of it having a premiere period over several weeks."
The success of "Rome," a 12-episode saga that cost an estimated $100 million, is crucial for the network. Long a channel boasting the best series-to-hit batting average...