NBC to expand Web presence

Beginning in September, NBC.com will showcase such networking capabilities as profiles containing user-generated content, online communities in which users can interact with network personalities, Widgets (interface items like dialog boxes and pop-up windows) will also be part of the site, as well as user blogs and photo and video galleries.

"You'll see us place multiple bets on a lot of different technologies," Beth Comstock, president of integrated media at NBC Universal, said at the company's presentation Monday at the Television Critics Assn. at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

On August 27, NBC will begin streaming episodes of Conan on the site. Daily episodes will be available the next day at 5 a.m. PDT.

Also in late August, NBC will unveil a corporate site for Dunder-Mifflin, the fictitious paper company at the center of The Office. Users will be able to log on to this site, join branches and complete challenges relating to the show.

The network will ratchet up the online presence of Heroes this summer, as well, presenting sites dedicated to specific characters. NBC also will introduce Season 2 characters from the drama on the portal.

The site for The Biggest Loser also will have a new look in the fall, when the show begins its fourth season. New host Alison Sweeney will write a blog, and NBC will offer online exclusive video segments on contestants and scenes that weren't on the broadcast.

Coastal Dreams, a Web-only soap opera geared toward a younger audience, is set to debut in October on NBC.com. This project previously was announced in May, during the upfronts, the networks' annual programming presentations to advertisers.