The Kyle XY Experiment

What Disney -ABC digital-media guru Albert Cheng calls the "branded multiplatform ecosystem" is a lot more complicated than old-fashioned TV programming, when all you had to do was pick a single time slot. Here's how ABC Family handled last year's premiere for Kyle XY, a drama about a boy with no memory--and no belly button.

1. iTunes
   Free download, June 21--29
   An unconventional and heavily promoted prelaunch release, with no ads, designed to generate early buzz.
   
   
2. ABC family
   June 26
   The cable channel's most successful premiere, with a record 2.6 million viewers.
   
   
3. ABC
   June 30
   A cameo on the network's summer schedule gave the show big-time exposure and referred viewers back to ABC Family.
   
   
4. iTunes
   $1.99/download, June 30--Present
   No more free downloads. Subsequent episodes go on sale the day after TV broadcast.
   
   
5. ABC Family On Demand
   $39.99/month, July 1--August 1
   Allowed Verizon FiOS TV customers to watch the pilot on their own time.
   
   
6. abcfamily.com
   Free streaming, July 5--Present
   Yes, free. The only catch: You have to watch three 30-second ads, a fraction of the number you see on TV.
   
   
7. DVD Release
   $40, May 2007
   All of season one for your DVD library, just before the start of season two.