Over the next two weeks, Starz and Encore are offering multiplatform, free previews in conjunction with select cable, satellite and telco affiliates.

The freeviews  are geared around the debut of the second-half of original series Outlander, which bows on April 4 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) on Starz. The timing will enable viewers to catch up on the first eight episodes of the season, before the second batch of eight installments begin their run.  The series is adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books.

The spring freeview across multiplatforms also affords non-Starz and non-Encore subscribers a chance to discover the premium channels featuring movies and originals on the Starz on Demand, Starz Play and Encore on Demand platforms, as well as linear channels for select distributors from March 26 through April 12. Dates and availability vary by distributor.

Outlander (pictured) aside, the spring free review will also serve as a showcase for Starz original series Black Sails and Power, plus the network's and Encore hit theatricals, including  22 Jump Street, Maleficent, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sex Tape, Think Like A Man Too, Deliver Us From Evil, Million Dollar Arm, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, Muppets Most Wanted, American Hustle, Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby, Heaven Is For Real, White House Down, Remember The Titans, Legend Of Bagger Vance and Elysium.

Participating cable, satellite and telco affiliates for the free preview include: AT&T U-verse – March 26-29; Verizon FiOS – March 26-30; DirecTV – March 27-29; Dish – March 27-29; Mediacom  - March 27-April 6; CenturyLink Prism – March 27-29; Cox – April 3-6;  Bright House Networks - April 3-6; and Comcast – April 6-12

The Starz and Encore premium channels will be available to Xfinity TV customers during Comcast’s third annual “Watchathon Week” from April 6 through April 12 through Xfinity On Demand on TV, as well as online at XfinityTV.com and via the Xfinity TV Go app. Select programming from the services also will be available for download.

Special screenings of Outlander’s mid-season premiere episode No. 109, “The Reckoning,” are slated for 10 local markets.

In addition to the New York premiere on April 1, the installment will also screen in Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Northern California, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle and at the Phoenix Film Festival. 

Most of the screenings will unspool in conjunction with area cable operators, via invitation-only events for their subscribers. 

The official transition of mun2 to NBC Universo on Sunday will be a highly defining moment for the network in more ways than one.

The modern general-entertainment cable service for Latinos has inked a deal with DirecTV for high-definition carriage. Subscribers at the nation’s leading DBS providers will be able to watch all of NBC Universo’s programming in the high-definition format on Feb. 1, highlighted by the network’s exclusive Spanish-language telecast of Super Bowl XLIX.

Deal terms were not disclosed.

While the DirecTV pact marks NBC Universo’s initial HD carriage entry, officials at NBC Universo, which counts some 40 million subscribers, are continuing to engage all of its affiliates in those conversations.

In the meantime, NBC Universo will look to provide more exposure for its coming out party via a free preview for the day with DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Cox, Verizon FiOS, Dish, Cablevision and corporate parent Comcast that will make it available to 74 million homes.

On Super Bowl Sunday, NBC Universo viewers will be greeted at 1 a.m. by Bienvenidos a NBC Universo, a half-hour show outlining what viewers can expect from the service. The program will also air after the conclusion of NBC Universo’s coverage of the Super Bowl, a presentation that will make it the second Spanish-language network to air the NFL championship in the States.

After the post-game airing of Bienvenidos a NBC Universo, the network will air a special preview of its first new acquired series. Crónica de Castas is a nine-episode fictional drama series that was filmed in the small, impoverished neighborhood of Tepito in Mexico City. The show follows the lives of polarizing characters with plenty of secrets whose stories revolve around the local Hotel Galicia. The Sunday night airing marks the pay TV debut of the series in the U.S., before it unfurls in full later this winter.

The network’s opening day lineup also features a host of Super Bowl-related specials sporting among other things, highlights from Media Day, an interview with halftime entertainer Katy Perry, a behind-the-scenes look at its production game plan and the best performers from Super Bowl halftimes past. The official pregame show starts at 5 p.m.

Content will be accessible to all users at nbcuniverso.com.

With the season crossing into the second half, NBA Digital and InDemand are teaming on a free preview of the league's out-of-market package this week.

NBA League Pass is available as a freeview from Monday Jan. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 25 to digital subscribers of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cablevision, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS, plus smaller In Demand affiliates around the nation.

The package offers customers up to 40 live out-of-market games per week across 10 channels. Basketball fans can order NBA League Passat the half-season package price, which includes digital and mobile access, of $99, or four installments of only $24.75. With the package's purchase, subscribers can access NBA League Pass Digitalon an authenticated basis.

In addition to the digital access, NBA League Pass presents  creative and free enhancements, including game replays, dual feeds, a mosaic channel, a stats channel and HD games as follows*:

SAME-DAY REPLAYS: The service re-airs every game in the package starting approximately one hour after the final buzzer so that fans can see NBA action they might have missed.  Each game is replayed in its entirety and repeats continuously overnight and the next day, on the same channel, until the following day’s live matchups begin. Games are available in both SD and HD (varies by system).

DUAL FEEDS: For many games, subscribers also receive innovative dual-feed telecasts, which deliver home-team plus visiting-team local market broadcasts so fans can choose the announcers they prefer.

MULTI-SCREEN MOSAIC: Package subscribers receive the popular rotating mosaic of multiple screens that give simultaneous snapshots of all the live-action games being played around the league, along with scores, time clocks and channel locations. The NBA LEAGUE PASS mosaic can be found on the last channel (10th) of the system’s package lineup. (Mosaic may occasionally be pre-empted to accommodate live games.)

STATS CHANNEL: The NBA LEAGUE PASS Stats Central is a live source for scores, statistics, game previews, game recaps and schedule information. This can be found on the ninth channel of the system’s package lineup. (Stats channel may occasionally be pre-empted to accommodate live games.)

NBA LEAGUE PASS DIGITAL ON NBA.COM:  This feature allows package subscribers to watch NBA LEAGUE PASS games live online at NBA.com or on authenticated mobile devices.  It is included for NBA LEAGUE PASS TV subscribers once their subscription is verified. Complete activation instructions and details are available at: www.nba.com/activate.

The package runs until the last day of the regular season, April 15.. More information about NBA League Pass, cable offerings, game schedules and channel numbers are available at www.getbasketball.com  and general information is at NBA LEAGUE PASS. Customers can order by calling 1-888-SPORTS-iN (888-776-7874) or their local cable provider. Blackout and other restrictions apply.

Verizon FiOS will kick off offer a free two-week preview of One World Sports later this month.

From Oct. 18 through Nov. 3 all of FiOS's 5-million-plus video customers will have access to the global sports network's lineup. The telco launched the network on its FiOS TV Extreme and FiOS TV Ultimate packages in April.

Among the programming highlights during the freeview span is "Super Soctober Saturday," as One World Sports will devote its Oct. 25 schedule to array of futbol fare,  featuring eight soccer matches over an 18.5-hour span.

Underlining the network's global lineup, Super Soctober Saturday features the first leg of the AFC Champions League Final, live from Sydney, Australia; a trio of J. League matches from Nippon; an A-League derby matchup from Australia between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City; plus an encore presentation of the 2014 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Hull City. 

In primetime, the network travels westward across The Pond to showcase the defending NASL champion New York Cosmos as they face their long-standing rival, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, live at 7:30pm  (ET).

The network is also flanking the preview gambit with “One World Sports Super Soctober Sweepstakes” in which the winner and a guest will be flown to London, to see the Premier League action pitting Arsenal versus Everton F.C. at Emirates Stadium on Feb, 28, 2015. Viewers can enter the “Super Soctober Sweepstakes” at www.oneworldsports.com.

During the preview period, FiOS customers also will have a chance to see the start of the Chinese Basketball Association season when the defending champions Beijing Ducks and its star, former New York Knick Stephon Marbury, take on the Guangdong Southern Tigers, featuring recent American high school recruit, Emmanuel Mudiay, who is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2015 NBA 2015 draft.  Plus, six live Kontinental Hockey League games and the final leg of the AFC Champions League Finals will be telecast during the freeview. 

FiOS will promote One World Sports in a number of its marketing channels, including cross-channel spots, email communication, web banners and a presence on the interactive media guide that all subscribers see when they turn on their TVs.  

In addition to Verizon, One World Sports has affiliate pacts with Dish Network, Charter Communications, Cablevision’s Optimum TV, Mediacom Communications, Hawaiian Telcom and Google Fiber.

With some top-flight fare on the menu, Showtime will serve up a free preview next weekend to some 74 million households across cable, satellite and telco providers.

Extending from Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 11, the freeview not only extends to the premium service, but Showtime On Demand, its TV Everywhere vehicle, Showtime Anytime, as well as a number of the participating distributors’ portals.

The free preview opens up the series premiere of drama Penny Dreadful, new episodes of original series Nurse Jackie and the final season of Californication, the premium-window premiere of Scary Movie 5, and an encore of the 12-round welterweight unification bout won by Floyd Mayweather over Marcos Maidana that played on Showtime pay-per-view on May 3.

During the preview, Showtime will make the second installment of Penny Dreadful -- a reimagining of some of literature’s most famous characters, notably Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and Dracula embroiled in Victorian London – available on Showtime Anytime, immediately after its linear bow on May 11 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

Free preview weekend watchers can also screen installments of original series, including Homeland, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, House of Lies, Weeds and Dexter on Showtime On Demand and Showtime Anytime.

The network will also air an array of theatricals including Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Part 2, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sinister, Alex Cross, Step Up Revolution and Lincoln.

Documentary programming will include the first four episodes of Years of Living Dangerously, Richard Pryor: Omit The Logic, MAD DOG: Inside the Secret World of Muammar Gaddafi, Broadway Idiot: Green Day on Broadway, Springsteen & I, Made in America, LT: The Life & Times, Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust - The Bridge To Russia and History of the Eagles, among others.