The excellent TV drama series Friday Night Lights returns to the air tonight at 9 EDT—but not on the network where it began.

The season premiere of Friday Night Lights on the DirecTV channel The 101 represents a new step in the satellite company’s efforts to bring first-run programming to its subscribers, and is another step in NBC’s attempts to find cheaper programming options.

In the past year NBC deferred to cable/sat’s USA Network in allowing the latter to have first runs of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, which previously appeared on NBC first and then on several cable outlets (most of which were owned by the same people who own NBC), and also ran episodes of the USA Network original series Monk and Psych after they had appeared on the cable channel numerous times.

Taking the programs after other networks have shown them reduces NBC’s costs in buying the shows, of course. The network has now done the same thing with its critically acclaimed but low-rated Friday Night Lights. DirecTV will show a half-season run of thirteen episodes this fall, and then NBC will broadcast them beginning in January.

The showings on DirecTV will be without commercial interruptions. NBC’s showings will have commercials.

DirecTV is willing to help bankroll further episodes after the thirteen that have been scheduled so far, according to DirecTV President of Entertainment Eric Shanks as quoted in Forbes, but the decision will have to wait until financing partner NBC decides whether the show’s ratings on the broadcast network warrant continuation.

That suggests that there will be a long wait between the two halves of the season if the show does continue, but the arrangement, however unwieldy at this point, has saved an excellent TV series for at least three more months.