​CBS began promoting the summer launch of TV’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, “Under the Dome,” all the way back during the 2013 Super Bowl. Yes, that’s back in February—four months before the miniseries aired and weeks before the show was even shot.

But the source material gave CBS a lot to work with. King’s novel had provocative key art in its own right, with a graphic book cover that could carry over well into TV. (And carry it did, as last week’s premiere netted more than 13 million viewers, making it the biggest summer drama premiere since 1992.)

The main challenge CBS started with was that the network, in true CBS fashion, wanted to use its own air to begin promoting the miniseries immediately—they just had no footage to promote it with.

“We knew we would have the goods to cut great spots. However, since the footage did not have any special effects included [at first], we had to make our own in the marketing department,” said Garen van de Beek, EVP and creative director of CBS Marketing. “That’s something we normally wouldn’t do but I have to admit, it was fun creating the dome!”

Then priority No. 1 became taking over the airwaves. Van de Beek said that his team’s main strategy in the launch campaign was time—CBS wanted to put “Under the Dome” in front of audiences as soon and for as long as possible. But with summer’s growing slate of new shows, premieres and TV events, that became its own challenge, and now that summer TV is a growing commodity, they also had to stand out. “We felt the only way to break through the clutter was to dominate the airwaves for a very long time,” said Van de Beek.

The pressure in this new summer TV atmosphere was particularly strong for CBS. In a corner of the market now dominated largely by cable, it is one of the first broadcast networks to take a chance on a summer TV event as big as this one.

“This wasn’t just an important launch for CBS, it was a bell-weather test for all the networks,” said van de Beek. “We had to make sure we got it right.”

Now with proof that a summer broadcast network event like “Under the Dome” can work, CBS has faith in more risks like these. Van de Beek said that a lot of that comes from choosing projects you believe in. And according to him, “you don’t start a campaign in February for a show premiering in June unless you really believe in it.”

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