Fox's 'New Girl' Gets Early Push on iTunes, Hulu and Fox.com

10:41 PM PDT 9/5/2011 by Lacey Rose

Comments

Isabella Vosmikova/FOX

New Girl's Zooey Deschanel

In an effort to get viewers to sample the Zooey Deschanel comedy ahead of the premiere week crush, Fox plans to serve up the pilot episode across multiple platforms.

New Girl is getting an early push ahead of its Sept. 20 premiere.

'New Girl' Adds Justin Long as Zooey Deschanel's Love Interest

'New Girl': Lamorne Morris Replaces Damon Wayans Jr. in Fox Comedy

Fox has plans to give potential viewers an early peek at the entire first episode of the roommate comedy series starring Zooey Deschanel on multiple digital platforms, including Apple's iTunes, Hulu and Fox.com. The strategy would seem to place buzz generation ahead of fears of viewer cannibalization.

The episode's iTunes push begins Sept. 6, which if successful could provide two weeks' worth of chatter for a series Fox has paired with younger-skewing Glee. The strategy has been used with cable series, but never with broadcast series still reliant on morning-after ratings.

The half-hour effort, which Fox brass is hoping will improve its flawed reputation in the live-action comedy space, will roll out on Fox.com and Hulu on Sept 13 at 12:05 am, and will remain available for streaming through 11:55 pm on Sept. 19. The pilot episode will not be available for streaming on 9/20, the day of the series' premiere.

The latest marketing outreach follows an aggressive plan which began last month with hotel and in-flight viewings as well as screenings in select cities with Fox affiliates. The New Girl pilot will also be available via video on demand and Deschanel's Hello Giggles blog.