BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- NBC said Wednesday you can soon watch some of its most popular shows for free on your PC the week after the programs originally air. It's the first phase of a new video on demand service called "NBC Direct."

The shows that will become available immediately include "Heroes," "The Office," "Life," "Bionic Woman," "30 Rock," "Friday Night Lights," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

The new service will allow users to download episodes to computers running Microsoft Windows software. The file will contain embedded advertising that cannot be skipped. Upcoming versions to be introduced by year's end will also allow viewers to move the file to a portable viewing device or watch them on a Mac computer.

NBC says it'll begin beta testing the new service in October. In later versions, NBC Direct will automatically download your favorite shows to your PC after they air on TV, NBC says.

High-definition shows will eventually be available through peer-to-peer technology, which will speed the download of larger files, NBC said. A special software player with filtering technology will prevent users from playing illegally downloaded videos.

NBC's move is worth noting because it's probably the direction that all the major TV networks will end up going. The networks have long talked about the ability to distribute shows to the "three screens" -- the TV, the PC and the mobile phone -- directly from their own online stores.

The networks have preferred to distribute their content through third parties like iTunes and Amazon Unbox. NBC's recent squabbling with iTunes over pricing might be just the beginning.

(Agencies)