Showtime Narrowing Focus on OTT Video Service

15 Oct, 2014 By: Erik Gruenwedel

---

With HBO announcing plans to launch a domestic standalone streaming service in 2015, Showtime appears to be readying its own over-the-top video service.

The premium cable and satellite television channel that serves as the flagship service of the Showtime Networks subsidiary of CBS Corp., hasn’t announced anything official. But with HBO taking the next step, perennial rival Showtime can’t be far behind.

"We are always looking at ways of expanding our audience and it is certainly something that we have been examining for some time. The subscription model is ideally positioned to take advantage of developing technologies in the consumer marketplace,” Showtime said in an email statement.

With original programing such as award-winning “Homeland,” “The Affair,” “Ray Donovan,” “Masters of Sex,” “Shameless,” “Penny Dreadful,” “House of Lies” and “Episodes,” in addition to recently concluded series “Dexter” and “Californication,” Showtime has always been a coveted premium TV channel.

When asked last month if he would consider offering the Showtime Anytime app as a direct-to-consumer service, CBS CEO Les Moonves said he and the rest of the industry were weighing their options.

“I don’t know when the timing is right, [but] it is very exciting to think about,” Moonves told an investor event in New York.
 

Bookmark it: