'Skins' to play out online first

E4 has confirmed that the first episode of Skins' second series will be made available on the web before it airs on its linear TV channel.

The show's second series will debut in four parts on MySpaceTV starting on February 2. Segments two and three will go up on the site on February 7th and 8th respectively, and the final part will be made available on February 9. The following day, the entire first episode will be viewable on E4's website and it will then air on E4's TV channel at 10pm on February 11.

MySpace and E4's website will also screen a series of short specials titled Unseen Skins, featuring new young writers and directors. They will be made available online after each episode airs on E4 television, and the first one was directed by series star Nicholas Hoult.

"Getting programming out to where our viewers are is an ongoing and important part of E4's strategy," said E4 marketing manager Sarah Martin. "It's great that we're able to reward Skins fans by giving them the chance to watch it ahead of it being on the channel."