For those whose television schedules made them choose between watching the Golden Globes and Girls’ season three premiere on Sunday night, the HBO dramedy has released the first two episodes of its latest season on YouTube. The two half-hour episodes of Lena Dunham’s show were available on the video platform on Monday morning, twelve hours after its East Coast airtime.
The complimentary viewing option parallels the show’s initial premiere in April 2012, which was also available on YouTube (as mature content) for those who aren’t subscribed to HBO GO, the channel’s online streaming service. To promote its upcoming season, Girls branched out to niche platforms like Snapchat and even creatively recapped character arcs solely via emoji on its Facebook page.
“For us, this is an increasingly challenging demographic to reach with traditional means,” Sabrina Caluori, HBO’s vice-president of social media and marketing said. After teasing the news beforehand, Girls announced the episodes’ availability through its Twitter account.
The wait is over. Free #GIRLS for everyone on @YouTube.
Ep 1: http://t.co/zJvxLfz5z7
Ep 2: http://t.co/KdvS7Qw2Bc— Girls (@girlsHBO) January 13, 2014
