NBC Universal and Comcast Corp. on Thursday jointly announced a video-on-demand deal, a piece of what sources said is a new multiyear carriage deal between the companies.

Financial terms of the broad pact were not disclosed, but the VOD package was a crucial component, allowing the nation's largest cable operator to expand its offering of top-tier on-demand content. With NBC series including "The Office" now joining a VOD roster that already includes CBS fare like "Survivor," Comcast chief operating officer Steve Burke signaled that other broadcasters soon will fall in line.

"And I think, in fairly short order, we will have ABC and Fox, so we will have all of the top 10 shows, top 20 TV shows in America, or most of them," Burke said at the Bank of America investor conference in New York.

However, VOD was just one piece of a bigger agreement Comcast and NBC Universal signed that ensures continued carriage for all of NBC Uni's cable channels that Comcast has in its lineup, including Bravo, USA Network and Sci Fi Channel. It represents the first such deal between the companies since NBC Universal expanded its cable portfolio with its 2004 merger with Vivendi Universal.

Comcast declined comment.

Not part of the carriage deal, sources said, was retransmission of NBC's owned-and-operated stations. The deal also did not grant carriage to Sleuth, a new cable network NBC Uni launched last year that has since received channel slots on Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and EchoStar Communications' Dish Network.

The inclusion of VOD in the affiliation agreement reflects the growing importance of on-demand programming as broadband and portable devices like Apple's iPod make considerable headway. Getting hit programs on VOD has been difficult to arrange because of perpetual wrangling over who should cover the costs, including rights fees.

The Walt Disney Co. and Comcast have not come to terms on a new carriage deal in years, and disagreements about VOD have been part of the problem, sources said.

Beginning in May, more than a dozen NBC Uni broadcast and cable series, including Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," will be made available to Comcast digital subscribers. Other programs covered in the deal include NBC's "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Las Vegas," "Conviction," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "Passions," USA's "Monk" and Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica" and "Ghost Hunters."

Each primetime broadcast episode will carry a 99-cent price tag and be available at midnight after its original airdate only in NBC O&O markets. NBC's daytime and late-night programs will be offered free of charge, but also only in NBC O&O markets. The cable series will be available in all Comcast markets for free.

This is the second VOD deal Comcast has struck with a broadcaster, having signed CBS to a similar pact in November (HR 11/8).

The series made available on VOD will still include commercials, though the spots will be sold separately from the primetime window.

NBC Uni and Comcast aren't entirely new to VOD collaboration; the cable operator already provides news programs on its VOD platform including "Meet the Press."

Comcast might have felt some pressure from recent reports that TWC has been in negotiations with the Big Four broadcasters to get hit programs in one on-demand package.

NBC Uni has been on a tear lately with carriage deals, signing agreements with DirecTV in November and TW in October.