Showtime Canada "a possibility"

[NakedGord]

Having spent three years building the HBO Canada brand, it just might be time for Corus Entertainment and Astral Media to do the same for Showtime in this country, according to Corus CEO John Cassaday.

http://www.cartt.ca/news/12393/Radio...ed-up-too.html

I'm not sure if there's any Showtime shows not currently carried in Canada (unlike HBO and Real Time with Bill Maher) so I'm not seeing this as quite as big of a deal as HBO Canada.

[mtlguy]

Well TMN/Movie Central I think are not buying Showtime shows lately. They didn't have Web Therapy and now their big new show of the fall, Homeland, is not on TMN...Nobody has them.

[mike10]

Well TMN/Movie Central I think are not buying Showtime shows lately. They didn't have Web Therapy and now their big new show of the fall, Homeland, is not on TMN...Nobody has them.

they seem to still be getting every show that showtime actually owns
it is the series that are made by other company's that they are not getting

and movie central has said that they will be airing homeland so it will most likely also be on TMN

[musimax]

This is something Super Channel needs to do if it wants to survive. They need to strike a deal with Showtime and rebrand likely, even if it's only one of their multiplex channels like TMN/MC did. Or, if they don't do that, change their business model and stop trying to directly compete with TMN/MC and lower their prices (because I doubt there's many out there that will subscribe to both TMN/MC and Super Channel and from the looks of it, the majority will choose TMN/MC over SC) and maybe be more like Mpix/Encore Avenue or something else that would ultimately allow them to lower prices. Something need to change for them or they won't be around much longer because they have lost a $#!@load of money and they likely can't sustain that much longer.

[mtlguy]

This is something Super Channel needs to do if it wants to survive. They need to strike a deal with Showtime and rebrand likely, even if it's only one of their multiplex channels like TMN/MC did. Or, if they don't do that, change their business model and stop trying to directly compete with TMN/MC and lower their prices (because I doubt there's many out there that will subscribe to both TMN/MC and Super Channel and from the looks of it, the majority will choose TMN/MC over SC) and maybe be more like Mpix/Encore Avenue or something else that would ultimately allow them to lower prices. Something need to change for them or they won't be around much longer because they have lost a $#!@load of money and they likely can't sustain that much longer.

For Superchannel, changing it's name to Showtime Canada would probably help them quite a bit. Maybe lower their price and maybe go down to 2 channels, would be more friendly to providers who don,t carry them yet.

But going to the CRTC to get providers to carry them, like they did with Videotron, is not helping them getting on Videotron. But MAYBE getting the Showtime brand could help.

[mtlguy]

they seem to still be getting every show that showtime actually owns
it is the series that are made by other company's that they are not getting

and movie central has said that they will be airing homeland so it will most likely also be on TMN

I don't see Homeland in October's schedule for neither TMN or Movie Central and I haven't read any press release saying they would have it.

Can you give me your source?

[tofino]

Source on Homeland was MC's twitter account. They said they expect it to premiere in October, date and time TBA.

Re: Super Channel. I subscribe to Super Channel year round and Movie Central in the fall only. My interest is mainly series and Super Channel has great ones throughout the year. MC/HBO's top series tend to only air in the fall, or repeat in the fall (eg Entourage), so there's no point in subscribing year round. Super Channel is also less expensive, at least with my provider (Bell).

I believe Super Channel has must carry status in English Canada, so I think Videotron is the only major provider that doesn't offer it.

[CDN Viewer]

I think its inevitable that Astral will launch a Showtime Canada channel seeing as how popular the TV series from HBO & Showtime appear to be.

I think its time they overhaul their entire service, they should adopt a format similar to what the US pay TV services have- one where each channel caters to a different genre of films. Here is my hypothetical lineup:

1-HBO Canada - the best of HBO (only series and specials, no movies)
2- Showtime Canada - the best of Showtime (only series and specials, no movies)
3- Thriller/suspense/horror
4- Comedy/family oriented
5- Action/Adventure/westerns
6- Sci-fi/fantasy/mystery
7- Romance/dramas
8- New releases

Also, since it appears as though Astral & Corus are partnering up quite a bit when it comes to their pay services, I think they should look at adopting a common branding for TMN/Movie Central.

[Randi]

For those interested in Homeland, you can view and edited version of the first episode here:
http://www.hitfix.com/videos/homelan...first-episode/

Wow, great ensemble cast: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin and Morena Baccarin... I'm looking forward to seing this show!

[mtlguy]

For those interested in Homeland, you can view and edited version of the first episode here:
http://www.hitfix.com/videos/homelan...first-episode/

Wow, great ensemble cast: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin and Morena Baccarin... I'm looking forward to seing this show!

I saw the Tweeter posting on Movie Central tweeter page, but I find it odd that it isn't on the schedule of TMN or Movie Central in October. All the Showtime shows are usually same day and time or a day or two later. Unless the contract is not signed yet and they will modify their schedule, but we're 3 weeks away from the premiere...I have some doubts.

[musimax]

I think its time they overhaul their entire service, they should adopt a format similar to what the US pay TV services have- one where each channel caters to a different genre of films. Here is my hypothetical lineup:

1-HBO Canada - the best of HBO (only series and specials, no movies)
2- Showtime Canada - the best of Showtime (only series and specials, no movies)
3- Thriller/suspense/horror
4- Comedy/family oriented
5- Action/Adventure/westerns
6- Sci-fi/fantasy/mystery
7- Romance/dramas
8- New releases

Also, since it appears as though Astral & Corus are partnering up quite a bit when it comes to their pay services, I think they should look at adopting a common branding for TMN/Movie Central.

That's what TMN and I think MC and even Super Channel already does, all of their multiplex channels have a theme. MFun! is family, comedy stuff; MExcess is action and adventure; MFest is indie/film festival, foreign stuff; and the main feed, M, is just a mix of whatever is popular I'm guessing.

Also, not a fan of the common branding between the two at all. I hope they end up keeping them separate.

[CDN Viewer]

That's what TMN and I think MC and even Super Channel already does, all of their multiplex channels have a theme. MFun! is family, comedy stuff; MExcess is action and adventure; MFest is indie/film festival, foreign stuff; and the main feed, M, is just a mix of whatever is popular I'm guessing.

TMN is the only service who organizes their channels by theme as each channel has a different name related to whatever genre of movies it airs. MC & Super Channel just number their channels, they all have the same name.

TMN needs to add at least a couple more multiplex channels IMO as the ones they have do not cover all genres and for the price they charge they should offer more channels. I would add the following: MEdge (thriller, suspense, mystery), this could be a re-brand of MorePix and MBeyond (Sci-fi/fantasy/horror).

[musimax]

TMN is the only service who organizes their channels by theme as each channel has a different name related to whatever genre of movies it airs. MC & Super Channel just number their channels, they all have the same name.

According to Wikipedia (take Wikipedia for what's it's worth I guess, but...) MC and Super Channel both organize their channels by theme as well.

But if you look at each channel's website, it's hard to tell for MC if they actually does or not, but for Super Channel, they actually do. Take a look at this page and it describes what each channel is devoted to. The definitions are kind of broad, but nonetheless, they are still sort of themed.

[mtlguy]

Response from The Movie Network about Homeland:

"I would like to thank you for your e-mail. Here at The Movie Network, it is always a pleasure to hear from our subscribers and to address any questions or concerns that you may have.

Although we will continue to premiere the latest Showtime series, unfortunately we were not able to acquire the broadcast rights for “Homeland”.

Regardless, I have forwarded your comments to our Programming department for review and consideration.




Looks like it's not going to happen...

[mike10]

Response from The Movie Network about Homeland:

"I would like to thank you for your e-mail. Here at The Movie Network, it is always a pleasure to hear from our subscribers and to address any questions or concerns that you may have.

Although we will continue to premiere the latest Showtime series, unfortunately we were not able to acquire the broadcast rights for “Homeland”.

Regardless, I have forwarded your comments to our Programming department for review and consideration.




Looks like it's not going to happen...

superchannel got the show