NBC Joins with Myspace to Webcast Premiere Episode of "The Office"

MYSPACE.COM TO SHOWCASE EXCLUSIVE, FIRST-EVER WEBCAST OF NBC'S NEW COMEDY SERIES 'THE OFFICE' ONLINE BEFORE NETWORK'S MARCH 24 PREVIEW AND MARCH 29 PREMIERE

NBC's First Online Webcast Premiere to Leverage MySpace's Community of 11 Million Users

BURBANK – March 16, 2005 – NBC joins with MySpace.com, the leading lifestyle portal for networking online, in announcing the exclusive, first-ever webcast of NBC's upcoming new series, "The Office" -- marking the first NBC online debut of a complete episode of a network series, as well as a first for the social networking portal.

NBC is partnering with MySpace's community of 11 million users to showcase the new comedy online on March 16 (8-8:30 p.m. ET) with the episode "Diversity Day" – eight days in advance of NBC's Thursday, March 24 (9:30-10 p.m. ET) broadcast preview featuring the series pilot. The actual network broadcast of the episode "Diversity Day" will be on the series' premiere date in its regular time slot on Tuesday, March 29 (9:30-10 p.m. ET).

On Wednesday, March 17, MySpace will also unveil a "webisode," or cut-down version of "Diversity Day," which will be made available for viewing on-demand. Registered users will also be able to join "The Office" group on MySpace and share their own office mishaps through personal profiles, blogs and other MySpace features.

"This cutting-edge merging of broadcast, online and on-demand media is extremely promising in building an awareness and buzz for this kind of special comedy," said Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. "We view this as a mutually beneficial association with MySpace that could prove to be the model for marketing future programs."

"We are very excited to work with NBC on this innovative effort to launch 'The Office'," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace. "This debut shows the potential of a site like ours to create buzz for a new entertainment property – as millions of users spread the word through a tightly connected community. "To view 'The Office' episode, no registration is required. MySpace users and others simply need to go to www.myspace.com/theoffice on Wednesday, March 16 at 8 p.m. (ET). The webisode will also be available for viewing on-demand beginning on March 17 at the same location.

"The Office," a "mockumentary"-style look into the humorous and sometimes poignant foolishness that plagues the world of 9-to-5 office workers, is based on the award-winning BBC hit. From Reveille and NBC Universal Television Studio, "The Office" is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein.

In addition to viewing "The Office" on MySpace, fans of the show will have an opportunity to interact in a unique online environment about the show with actor profiles, "The Office" blogs and links to nbc.com where the official show site is located. In addition, fans can enter a sweepstakes to win an "Office" party at their place of work -- complete with a private screening of an episode. The stars of "The Office" are Steve Carell ("The Daily Show"), Jenna Fischer ("Miss Match"), John Krasinski ("Kinsey"), Rainn Wilson ("Six Feet Under"), and B.J. Novak ("Punk'd").

About MySpace.com

MySpace.com is the premier lifestyle portal for networking online. Integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music downloads, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, chat rooms, and user forums, MySpace has created a connected community where users put their lives online. As the seventh-most trafficked site on the Internet*, MySpace.com is the most widely used and highly regarded site of its kind. MySpace.com is committed to providing the highest quality user experience and will continue to innovate new features that allow its users to express their creativity and share their lives with their friends.

(*February comScore Media Metrix Page View Rankings)

About NBC

The NBC Agency, founded in November 1999, is a multi award-winning advertising team that made "Must See TV" a household slogan and reinforced the term "appointment television" for NBC programming. It is a unique, full-service advertising agency servicing the advertising and promotional needs of all NBC-Universal owned entities, which include entertainment, news, sports and corporate divisions of NBC as well as the cable, Internet and syndicated properties and brands that the company owns or holds an equity interest in, such as CNBC, MSNBC and MSNBC.com, Bravo, USA, SCI FI, Trio, Telemundo and NBC-Universal Television Distribution.

Click here for more about "The Office" show