TORONTO and LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29,
2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company, and CBS
Corporation announced today a long-term content licensing and
trademark agreement for SHOWTIME® in Canada. The exclusive, landmark deal will
bring the SHOWTIME brand to Canada
for the first time, with hundreds of hours of past, present and
future SHOWTIME programming being made available across Bell Media
platforms in English and French, including its new premium TV
streaming service, CraveTV, as well as its leading pay television
service, The Movie Network (TMN).
The agreement marks a significant expansion for SHOWTIME
programming in Canada, and builds
upon the previous CBS/Bell Media agreement that licensed current
SHOWTIME series on pay TV in the country. Over the course of the
new agreement, CraveTV and TMN will become Canada's exclusive home of SHOWTIME-owned
first-run programming as well as almost its entire catalog of
scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and specials.
"This new partnership with CBS Corporation illustrates Bell
Media's commitment to provide additional value to subscribers of
CraveTV and The Movie Network, while significantly extending
CraveTV's advantage over its streaming competitors," said
Kevin Crull, President, Bell Media. "SHOWTIME has clearly become one of
TV's preeminent brands, and its slate of world-class and
award-winning scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and
specials guarantee our subscribers more of the premium TV they want
on the platform of their choice."
"The SHOWTIME premium brand is growing in stature around the
world as well as in the U.S., with acclaimed, highly successful
programming that will stand out anywhere," said Armando Nunez, President and CEO of the CBS
Global Distribution Group. "We're excited to expand this
business in a major way with Bell Media and shine a big spotlight
on SHOWTIME in Canada."
"This is a great moment in the history of SHOWTIME, when for the
first time our award-winning programming will be distributed and
aggressively marketed as one brand beyond the United States," said David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc.
"This ground-breaking new deal was driven by the depth and breadth
of our critically acclaimed original series. Bell Media, with
their incredible range of platforms, is uniquely positioned to
present SHOWTIME to Canadian audiences in whatever form they choose
to watch us."
CraveTV will launch a new SHOWTIME-branded environment
imminently, featuring the SHOWTIME Collection with hundreds of
hours of exclusive SHOWTIME series and specials. At launch, the
collection will exclusively feature the immediate past seasons of
current hits like THE AFFAIR, RAY
DONOVAN and PENNY DREADFUL. Also part of CraveTV's SHOWTIME
Collection are big-buzz SHOWTIME originals like MASTERS OF SEX,
NURSE JACKIE, BROTHERHOOD, SLEEPER CELL, WEEDS, THE BIG C,
THE UNITED STATES OF TARA, PENN
& TELLER: BULLSHIT! and more. The SHOWTIME Collection will also
feature the complete star-studded and exclusive library of
acclaimed SHOWTIME music, documentary and comedy specials, all
adding up to the addition of nearly 600 assets at launch.
Later in 2015, a SHOWTIME-branded programming block will debut
on The Movie Network, providing a home for SHOWTIME content on The
Movie Network and promoting the SHOWTIME Collection on CraveTV.
SHOWTIME and its critically acclaimed, award-winning original
series continue to make their mark on the cultural landscape. In
2014, the network was honored with 24 Primetime Emmy® Award
nominations, including the most lead actor/actress nominations of
any television network (broadcast or cable). SHOWTIME also received
nine 2015 Golden Globe Award nominations, the most ever for the
network, and was awarded two wins for THE AFFAIR, including Best TV
Drama Series. SHOWTIME has grown by 90% over the past decade to
cross the 23 million-subscriber mark in the United States. The growing lineup of
SHOWTIME programming includes THE AFFAIR, RAY DONOVAN, PENNY DREADFUL, HOUSE OF LIES as
well as the upcoming series HAPPYISH. In addition to original
series, the premium network features comedy and music specials,
provocative documentaries and hard-hitting sports programming.
About CraveTV
All you can watch, for $4/month. Created for TV lovers and devoted
exclusively to television, CraveTV™ is
Canada's premium subscription
on-demand video streaming service, providing the most robust lineup
of superior television content in the country. From TV's
most-acclaimed dramas and beloved comedies to documentaries, music,
and factual programming, CraveTV features thousands of hours
of premium non-kids TV programming, representing hundreds of unique
titles. Designed to complement the traditional television
ecosystem, and available to all TV providers,
CraveTV is available to Eastlink, TELUS Optik TV, Bell
Fibe TV, Bell Satellite TV, and Bell Aliant FibreOP TV subscribers,
and is coming soon to Northwestel and other CCSA members. Available
through traditional set-top boxes, the service is also available
via mobile apps and the web, with game consoles and smart TVs
coming soon. CraveTV is from Bell Media, Canada's premier multi-media company with more
than a decade of leadership delivering Canada's most-watched and most-acclaimed
television programming across the Pay, Specialty, and Network TV
landscapes. For more on CraveTV, visit www.CraveTV.ca.
About The Movie Network
The Movie Network is a pay
television service available in eastern Canada delivering premiere access to
Hollywood hit movies, new and
exclusive HBO content, critically acclaimed SHOWTIME series and
first-rate Canadian programming to subscribers. The Movie Network
service includes five 24-hour multiplex channels – The Movie
Network, HBO Canada, MExcess, MFun! and MFest. All five multiplex
channels are simulcast in High Definition and joined by TMN GO, a
multi-platform video streaming service, and The Movie Network
OnDemand. The Movie Network is a division of Bell Media, which is
part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More
information about The Movie Network is available at
www.themovienetwork.ca.
About Bell Media
With passion and an unrelenting
commitment to excellence, Bell Media creates content and builds
brands that entertain, inform, engage, and inspire audiences
through the platforms of their choice. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with
leading assets in television, radio, out-of-home advertising, and
digital media. Bell Media owns 30 local television stations led by
CTV, Canada's #1 television
network; 35 specialty channels, including TSN and RDS, Canada's most-watched specialty channels in
English and French; and four pay TV services, including The Movie
Network and Super Ecran. Bell Media is also Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 106
licensed radio stations in 54 markets across Canada. Bell Media owns Astral Out-of-Home,
one of Canada's most dynamic and
innovative out-of-home advertising companies with a network of more
than 9,500 advertising faces in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British
Columbia. Bell Media also operates more than 200 websites;
delivers TV Everywhere with premium subscription on-demand
streaming service CraveTV™, as well as its innovative
GO video streaming services including CTV GO, TMN GO, and TSN GO;
holds an equity stake in digital startup Hubub; is partners in
Cirque du Soleil Media, a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil; and
owns Dome Productions Inc., a multi-platform production company.
Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. For
more on Bell Media, please visit www.bellmedia.ca.
About CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A
and CBS) is a mass media company that creates and distributes
industry-leading content across a variety of platforms to audiences
around the world. The Company has businesses with origins that date
back to the dawn of the broadcasting age as well as new ventures
that operate on the leading edge of media. CBS owns the
most-watched television network in the U.S. and one of the world's
largest libraries of entertainment content, making its brand — "the
Eye" — one of the most recognized in business. The Company's
operations span virtually every field of media and entertainment,
including cable, publishing, radio, local TV, film, and interactive
and socially responsible media. CBS's businesses include CBS
Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation
and Warner Bros. Entertainment), CBS Television Studios, CBS Global
Distribution Group (CBS Studios International and CBS Television
Distribution), CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS
Interactive, CBS Films, Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, POP
(a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate),
Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television
Stations, CBS Radio and CBS EcoMedia. For more information, go to
www.cbscorporation.com.
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SOURCE CBS Corporation