Showtime’s rebranding to “Paramount Plus With Showtime” comes amid a messy time for streaming services, where more and more companies seem to be consolidating.
After nearly nine years, Showtime’s streaming apps are fading to black. The Showtime standalone service will be shut down on April 30, according to notices sent to subscribers. The end of Showtime’s streaming apps comes just less than a year after parent company Paramount Global integrated Showtime’s programming into the top-tier Paramount+ plan.
Showtime retorts that there is “no plausible basis” for the claim, which focuses on the participation of Georgette Jones, the titular couple’s daughter, and her part in a previous non-disparagement agreement.
Showtime‘s linear network, which launched more than four decades ago during the early days of cable, will officially get a new name on Jan. 8, 2024. The network will be rebranded Paramount+ with Showtime. Parent company Paaramount Global had announced the rebrand earlier this year, combining the previously separate Paramount+ and Showtime streaming apps into a single service under the new name.
Exclusives
ESPN Plus looks to add another big revenue punch to this year’s busy PPV boxing category with last Saturday’s (Oct. 28) Tyson Fury (pictured)-Francis Ngannou bout while looking to be opportunistic in the category next year. ESPN’s Matt Kenny says the company is bullish on PPV boxing in 2024.
She joins Jana Winograde and Gary Levine in stepping down from their roles after Chris McCarthy took over the cable network.
The ReFrame Report on Gender & Hiring in TV found gender-balanced employment in 94 of the top 200 series of the 2022-23 season.
VICE, the documentary TV series that launched on HBO in 2013 and in more recent years called Showtime home, is the latest program to be “disappeared” from the Paramount+ With Showtime streaming service. VICE previously had been available on the Showtime app, and then for a hot second moved to Paramount+ With Showtime (after the Paramount+/Showtime merger).
An installment delving into the Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate’s time as a U.S. Navy JAG officer at Guantanamo Bay was quietly shelved without explanation.
The game of musical chairs continues at Paramount. On Tuesday, the company’s fast-rising TV boss Chris McCarthy and its chief research officer, Colleen Fahey Rush, announced via internal memo that Kim Lemon, Showtime’s EVP of data strategy, research, scheduling and programming, would be exiting. In what it likely no surprise to those within, Lemon is being replaced by a longtime Viacom-turned-Paramount executive, Laurel Weir.
Headliners with Rachel Nichols to feature NBA All-Star Joel Embiid in premiere episode today.
Showtime has been going through downsizing and recalibration since the November ouster of longtime CEO David Nevins and the premium network’s inclusion in Paramount Media Networks President Chris McCarthy’s portfolio. There have been layoffs, series cancellations and an executive restructuring as McCarthy articulated the plans for the network, which will soon be rebranded as Paramount+ with Showtime. They include multiple TV universes built around some of Showtime’s biggest series, including multiple Dexter and Billions offshoots. During the Morgan Stanley conference Wednesday, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish addressed the strategy and indicated that other Showtime series could be revisited too.
Showtime laid off approximately 120 staffers Monday amid a streaming-focused restructuring that saw the exits of several top execs as the pay TV channel’s team was merged into MTV Entertainment Studios, a spokesperson confirmed. No other details were available regarding which departments within Showtime were affected, although a source close to the situation tells Variety those cuts could amount to roughly 25% of Showtime’s workforce.
The changes at Showtime continue, with Co-Presidents of Entertainment Gary Levine and Jana Winograde stepping down from their posts. The announcement was made this morning by Paramount Global’s Chris McCarthy, who took oversight of the pay cable network in the November restructuring that saw longtime Showtime CEO David Nevins leave the company. McCarthy is expected to announce a new leadership team for Showtime, soon to be renamed Paramount+ with Showtime, which is rumored to include a new role for his top scripted executive on the basic cable side, Keith Cox.
The premium cable network overhauls its slate around franchises after its merger with streamer Paramount+.
Following Monday’s announcement that Showtime’s linear and streaming platforms will be rebranded to Paramount+ With Showtime, Paramount Global has promoted Showtime and Paramount TV Studios communications chief Erin Calhoun to the new role of EVP of communications of Paramount Streaming and Cross-Company Publicity. The news of the exec’s elevation comes as CBS Interactive’s Susan Lundgren exits her post, giving Calhoun expanded purview across brands.
Showtime will no longer be a stand-alone brand. Paramount Global revealed Monday that the company is rebranding the premium cable network as “Paramount+ with Showtime” as part of a wide-ranging change that also brings the two brands together in the streaming world. Chris McCarthy will continue to lead the Showtime studio and oversee network operations for the linear channel and work closely with Tom Ryan, who will oversee the Paramount+ with Showtime streaming business.
The chief creative officer for Paramount+ scripted originals and chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks will exit the company at the end of the year, he told staff in a memo Thursday.
The move would bring together two of the entertainment company’s offerings in a crowded sector.
Paramount has combined Paramount+ and Showtime into a single, merged service — letting subscribers access content from both streamers in one place. It’s also offering promotional discounts on the Paramount+/Showtime bundle of up to 33% for the next month. (Image: Paramount)
Showtime and Paramount Television Studios have suspended production for four days on upcoming series American Gigolo, a reboot of the popular 1980 movie. The move comes a couple of days after the Paramount network and TV studio severed ties with the series’ developer, writer, director and executive producer David Hollander following an investigation into allegations of misconduct.
Urooj Sharif, who had a previous run at Showtime early in her industry career, is returning to the premium cabler as vice president, scripted programming. In her new role, Sharif will be responsible for the development and production oversight of premium scripted series, including drama, comedy and limited series. She will creatively oversee all steps of development and production, as well as serving as the network liaison for projects through delivery and release.
