(12 April 2008 1:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US broadcaster ABC has announced that its website ABC.com is launching new widgets around shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty.

These new widgets join the existing widgets for Dancing with the Stars and Lost. In addition, as part of the network's Start Fresh marketing campaign, the "Watch a Video, Plant a Tree" promotion allows users to positively impact the environment by watching videos via ABC.com widgets.

Building upon the Lost and Dancing with the Stars widgets, each of which averages over 170,000 daily views, the new widgets are designed to provide another way for viewers to experience and share their favourite shows online.

The embeddable widgets will allow fans to add exclusive ABC.com content to their blogs, webpages and social networking sites, including iGoogle, MyYahoo, Facebook and MySpace. Each widget will include video clips, photos, news alerts and mobile versions, and links back to ABC.com's broadband player for viewing of full episodes.

In support of the Start Fresh campaign on ABC promoting the return of new episodes, ABC and the Arbor Day Foundation are teaming up to plant trees. For every ten videos watched from any ABC widget till 30 April 2008, a tree sapling will be planted, with the goal of planting up to 100,000 trees.

Progress can be seen via counters on the widgets, and additional information on "Watch a Video, Plant a Tree" and the Arbor Day Foundation can be found on ABC.com.