Syfy has expanded viewers' sampling options of the new spaceship drama The Expanse. Following Tuesday night's airing of the series' second episode, Syfy has made episodes 1-4 available on Syfy.com and on-demand cable, satellite and telco-TV platforms. The move makes the third and fourth episodes available in advance of their Syfy linear premieres on Dec. 22 and 29. The 10-part series (reviewed by MCNhere) airs on Syfy on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Syfy said the pre-linear debut of The Expanse's first episode was sampled 4.4 million times (as of this morning) during its Nov. 23-Dec. 14 run on Syfy.com and other outlets.

Sara Moscowitz, senior vice president, brand and strategic marketing, at Syfy said in a release: “By giving viewers the opportunity to watch Episodes 3 and 4 early, we’re not only providing a little holiday gift for the series’ existing fans, but we’re also allowing new viewers who’ve heard about The Expanse to catch up on the series. With the potential to hook a broad audience over the holidays, we hope to debut Episode 5 to a committed, passionate fan base on Jan. 5.”

Set 200 years in the future, The Expanse follows the case of a missing young woman that brings a hardened detective (Thomas Jane, Hung) and a rogue ship’s captain (Steven Strait, Magic City) together in a race across the solar system that will expose the greatest conspiracy in human history. The series is based on the book series collectively known as "The Expanse," written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S. A. Corey).

Starz is giving its latest original series a preseason of sorts.

The premium network will tip off a multiplatform nationwide sampling of the first two episodes of Survivor’s Remorse, the comedy executive-produced by basketball legend LeBron James, beginning Sept. 27. The exposure comes a full week before the series makes it national, linear debut on Starz on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.

In the latest expansive sampling effort behind its original shows, Starz will make Survivor’s Remorse, the story of baller Cam Calloway (Jessie Usher) and his family who are suddenly thrust into the limelight after he signs a multimillion dollar contract with a professional team in Atlanta, available to multichannel video households through on-demand, online and linear runs on select cable, satellite and telco affiliates in the United States (see list below).

Additionally, the first two installments are accessible online through select websites including Starz.com, and the show’s Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages. They will also be available via Starz on Demand and the free Starz Play app for all users in the United States, and through Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Sony Entertainment Network and Xbox Video.

All told, Starz's sampling assist for Survivor's Remorse will reach some 78 million U.S. households.

Starz has supported the launch of current hit, Outlanderand key original series like Black Sailsand Power, as well as the sophomore run of Da Vinci's Demonsand reality series The Chair with various on-demand, digital and experential marketing initiatives

Mike O’Malley, consulting producer and Emmy-nominated actor for his role on Glee, serves as executive producer and showrunner for Survivor’s Remorse. In addition to James, Tom Werner, chairman of the Boston Red Sox and whose production credits include The Cosby Show, Roseanne and That '70s Show; Maverick Carter, sports marketing executive and James's business partner; Paul Wachter, founder and CEO of Main Street Advisors; and Victor Levin (Mad Men, Mad About You); are also serving as executive producers.

Starz retains all domestic and international multiplatform rights including television, home entertainment, and digital.

The following is a list of some of the providers offering on demand and/or linear sampling:

• Comcast (FOD)
• DirecTV (FOD)
• Dish(FOD + Linear)
• Time Warner Cable  (FOD)
• Cox Communications (FOD)
• Verizon FiOS (FOD)
• Bright House Networks (FOD)
• Mediacom (FOD)
• Other select NCTC members

In the latest example of its diversified sampling strategies to generate awareness and viewing for its original programming, Starz will open up the first five installments of its experiment in filmmaking, prior to its linear premiere.

The premium programmer will make the first five installments of its original documentary series, The Chair, available to Starz subscribers on Starz Play and Starz on Demand, beginning on Sept. 6, ahead of the skein's linear bow that day at 11 p.m. (ET/PT).

Created by Chris Moore, executive producer of Emmy-nominated Project Greenlight and co-producer of Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, the 10-part documentary trails two first-time directors, Shane Dawson and Anna Martemucci, who are given the same original screenplay, and tasked with creating their initial debut features to the big screen.

Starz has supported the launch of current hit,Outlander, and key original series like Black Sails and Power, as well as the sophomore run of Da Vinci’s Demons with various on-demand, digital and experential marketing initiatives

The Chair documents the creation, marketing and theatrical release of both adaptations – Dawson’s is named Not Cool, while Martemucci’s is christened Hollidaysburg. Both directors were given the same budget and the productions used locations in the same city – Pittsburgh, Through multiplatform voting, viewers will ultimately determine which director will be awarded $250,000.

Both films will also be available on Starz Play and Starz on Demand, beginning on Oct. 25, and will air on the network before the finale of The Chair on Starz.

“Starz is making the first five episodes of The Chair available on the same day of the television premiere of the series to reach a young adult population that is in the vanguard of ‘bingeing’ on shows as their preferred method of viewing,” said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht. “Starz is always interested in moving the premium programming model forward with strategies that are attuned to the projected audience demos of the show. We are once again utilizing an exposure tactic that has intrigued us since we first did it with last year's limited series, Dancing on the Edge."

Actor Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, American Horror Story, Heroes) and his producing partners Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson will be featured in The Chair as they join Moore and the script’s original producer, Josh Shader, to serve as mentors to Dawson and Martemucci in their quest to develop the winning adaptation.

Outlander fans can get out in front of the new series on Starz.

Continuing its varied gambits to generate buzz, sampling and ultiimately viewing, the premium channel will give fans of the show, which is being adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books and executive-produced by Ronald Moore (Battlestar Galactica), a chance to watch the show’s first episode on various platforms, a week before it makes its linear debut.

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, in advance of the programmer’s July 11 presentation at the Television Critics Association at the Beverly Hilton, said that free sampling of the pilot will begin on August 2 via myriad affiliate on-demand vehicles and online outlets. Outlander is slated to open on Starz on Saturday, August 9 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

Albrecht also noted that the Starz plans to show the first eight episodes of Outlander’s initial campaign on consecutive Saturday nights in that time slot through Sept. 27, with its second half scheduled to resume early in 2015.

All told, some 82 million multichannel video households will have access to the premiere episode via additional linear, on-demand and/or online sampling opportunities on select cable, satellite and telco affiliates in the United States, as well as online through select websites. including Starz.com/Outlander, the Starz “Outlander” Twitter page, Starz's YouTube page, the Starz 'Outlander' Facebook page, and the free Starz Play app.

Distributors offering the first installment on their free-on-demand platforms include Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Charter, Bright House, Mediacom, CenturyLink and various members of the National Cable Television Cooperative.

Starz has supported the launch of key original series like Black Sailsand Power, as well as the sophomore run of DaVinci's Demons, with various on-demand, digital and experential marketing initiatives. 

"We've heard from fans the world over who are anxiously awaiting to see how we’ve brought Claire and Jamie to life in what may possibly be the most highly anticipated series in Starz history,” said Albrecht. "Our Outlander sampling strategy serves the dual purpose of giving early access to the series premiere for those fans thirsting to watch it as soon as possible, as well as providing a vehicle that introduces the Starz experience to prospective new subscribers who are eager to learn all about this great new series."

The series, adapted from Gabaldon’s international best-selling books by Moore (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation), follows the story of Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), a married combat nurse from 1945, who is mysteriously transported to 1743. In this unknown world, her life is threatened. But when she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited and she is torn between two vastly different men and irreconcilable lives.

Outlander is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Looking to tap into the book series’ fervid fan base, Starz recently launched the OutlanderCommunity.com microsite, a social destination that aggregates the latest related content across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, fan blogs and more. The platform promotes exclusive show content and deepens the consumer’s connection with the show and fan community.

The site, which Starz said drew more than 138,000  page views with users spending an average of 4 minutes on, features new and ongoing activities for users to share via social media including the “I Love #Outlander Because…” activity and an "apothecary cabinet" that allows users to explore the plants and herbs used during the 1700s when modern medicine wasn’t available. Users will find 14 different plants that were used to treat everything from warts and corns to heart attacks and infection. 

Starz is also giving fans a chance to learn how to “Speak Outlander” with the "Gaelic expert" feature on the Starz YouTube page, featuring cast members from the set in Scotland. Twelve words and/or phrases are featured in these lessons, including “Sassenach,” “Sàinte Mhath!” “Je Suis Prest” and “Craigh na Dun.”

Starz’s latest original series powered its way to more than 2 million viewers during its linear weekend debut.

Power, the tale of a New York City nightclub and its drug-backed underpinnings that is executed-produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, pulled in 462,000 viewers during its 9 p.m. premiere on Saturday, June 7, according to Nielsen live + same-day data. With encores, the series tallied 1.27 million watchers on Saturday. Adding 150,000 watchers for one telecast on sister service Encore and more re-airs on Sunday drove Power's opening weekend total to 2 million.

That put Power on par with the second-season bow of Da Vinci’s Demons and last August’s limited series The White Queen, but behind the 2.6 million who tuned in during the first weekend of Black Sails, a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island.

The new series also collected another 480,000 viewers via initial reports from the week-long multiplatform sampling initiative the premium programmer used to bolster awareness, raising its opening week count to some 2.6 million. Additional totals from watching on multiplex, extended DVR, on-demand, Starz Play online and other sampling outlets have not been calculated.

From a demographic perspective, Power played well with both guys and gals. Women 18+ comprised 45% of Power’s weekend viewers, with men 18+ accounting for 48%. Adults 18 to 49 represented 52% of the Power audience last weekend, while adults 50+ made up 40%