NBC got a jump on some of the other broadcast networks this week by rolling out their fall schedule earlier than usual. Not that there was all that much to roll out. They’re only premiering four new series in the traditional September slot, and only have a few more slated for later debuts throughout the season.

While the Writer’s Guild strike undoubtedly played a significant part in weakening new offerings from all the networks, the AdAge article linked above points out that it’s not the only factor in reshaping the networks’ approach to programming. Over at NewTeeVee.com, Chris Albrecht points out that NBC also announced a handful of original online series as well as supplementary online content to go along with shows like “Heroes”, “The Office” and “30 Rock”. The significant drop off in television viewership is reducing the value of new television series, and so the networks are beginning to pay attention to using online distribution as a lower-risk method for attracting audiences, though they’ve yet to demonstrate that you can successfully port an online show to primetime (witness the embarrassment NBC suffered with the utter failure of “Quarterlife”).

Even though the television networks have been trying to adapt to the changes wrought by the arrival of the Internet since practically Day One, they have floundered year after year after year without really understanding the nature of the change. The writer’s strike was really just the catalyst that seemed to finally compel the networks to revisit their tired models of programming. It will be interesting to see what the other networks bring to the table in terms of reimagining the relationship between themselves and the viewers.