MUMBAI: FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW) has partnered with UK's Channel 4 to provide exclusive content for mobile and online platforms for the new comedy series, The IT Crowd.

For the first time in Channel 4's history, UK-based internet users can now watch full-length episodes of The IT Crowd one week before transmission by logging on to http://www.channel4.com/itcrowd.

Fans will also be able to download clips, outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage to their mobile phones via Channel 4's mobile portal, which can be accessed simply by texting "Mobile" to 83188. Content has been edited and encoded for both online and mobile delivery by Mobile Interactive Group, the global multimedia mobile services provider.

FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide UK vice president licensing Dom Wheeler said, "This is a first in the history of Channel 4 and a very important step for taklbackTHAMES and FremantleMedia. New media platforms are an increasingly important way for consumers to interact with our programmes and we look forward to working with Channel 4 on many more of our hit shows in the future."

The IT Crowd is the latest highly-anticipated comedy offering from talkbackTHAMES, one of the UK production companies owned by FremantleMedia. Written and directed by Graham Linehan and produced by Ash Atalla, The IT Crowd is about an IT department - Roy (Chris O'Dowd), Jen (Katherine Parkinson) and Moss (Richard Ayoade) - who work in the basement of Reynholm Industries while their beautiful colleagues work upstairs in modern, sophisticated surroundings. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, The IT Crowd is a surreal look at the underclass of a company.

The IT Crowd premiered with a double bill on Channel 4 last Friday attracting 1.8 million viewers. Fremantle International Distribution, the distribution arm of FremantleMedia, will be distributing The IT Crowd worldwide and will launch the new comedy at MIPTV 2006, where it will feature within an exciting slate of programming.