When HBO Now launched exclusively for Apple devices in April, it introduced an extraordinary business plan for the premium channel, enabling consumers to watch favorite shows like Game of Thrones and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver without the need for a cable connection. Now, Showtime, its main competitor, wants to get in on the act.
Per Adweek, Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp., confirmed that the premium channel would be launching its own premium service, simply called Showtime, next month. It’ll be available for Apple devices, like HBO Now, but there’s a major difference – it’ll be four dollars cheaper than HBO Now, going for $10.99 a month.
This service will allow consumers to watch films and original TV shows, including Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex and the eerie Penny Dreadful.
“Going over-the-top means Showtime will be much more accessible to tens of millions of potential new subscribers,” said Moonves. “Across CBS, we are constantly finding new ways to monetize our programming by capitalizing on opportunities presented by technology. This works best when you have outstanding premium content – like we do at Showtime – and when you have a terrific partner like Apple – which continues to innovate and build upon its loyal customer base.”
Matthew Blank, chairman and CEO for Showtime Networks, added, “At Showtime, we’re excited to offer consumers the opportunity to subscribe in new ways, by simply having an Internet connection. Our intent is to make Showtime available to viewers via every manner possible, giving them an enormous amount of choice in accessing our programming.”
Not only is this is a big deal for Showtime – especially with a lower price that could be a bigger draw for consumers looking to save a few dollars – but it’s also a big deal for Apple, landing another exclusivity window with a premium service. Showtime will eventually be introduced on other services, but, for now, it remains exclusive with the company.
Meanwhile, Showtime hopes to reach out to a different audience type with the app – millennials. “We do know that there’s maybe 12 million homes that have high-speed Internet, who are not subscribers to any video packages,” said Showtime Networks president David Nevins, speaking with AdWeek. “And there’s another, say, 75 million homes that have video packages but don’t subscribe to Showtime. So we feel like there’s definitely opportunities in new distribution.”
With shows like the titles mentioned above, it should certainly get there. Check out a trailer for the service below.