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Richmond Times - Dispatch

More than a dozen popular television shows from NBC Universal's stable of network and cable programs are being added to Comcast Corp.'s on-demand service, the companies announced yesterday.

Beginning in May, Comcast's digital cable subscribers will be able to watch replays of primetime shows when they want for 99 cents each, as early as midnight following their broadcast. Late-night and daytime shows will be available at no extra charge.

Viewers who purchase the shows will have 24 hours of access to the programs. They will be able to rewind, fast forward and pause, said Comcast, the cable television provider in the metro Richmond area, where it serves about 250,000 subscribers.

The shows come from NBC, USA Network, Bravo and include "The Office," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Monk," "Battlestar Galactica" and "Celebrity Poker Showdown."

The Philadelphia-based cable giant last year reached a similar deal with CBS. It has more than 7,000 on-demand programs available per month.

This is the second such deal for NBC, which also offers replays of its programming over satellite broadcaster DirecTV Inc.'s network. DirecTV subscribers also can pay to download some Fox Entertainment Group programs to their digital video recorders up to two days before traditional broadcasts.

ABC is making its shows available for viewing on Apple Computer Inc.'s video iPod through Apple's iTunes service. NBC later joined that service as well.