Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's
premium cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
channels, including its flagship service
Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate
Paramount Global
Paramount Global ( doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. ...
under
its networks unit.
Overview
The company was established in 1983 as Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. after
Viacom and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (now
Paramount Media Networks
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
) merged their premium channels,
Showtime and
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released ...
respectively, into one division. In 1984,
American Express sold their interest in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications (now
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
) making Warner the new half-owner of Showtime/TMC. In 1985, Warner sold its half-interest to Viacom, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom. 1985 also saw the pay-per-view service
Viewer's Choice become part of the operation; it merged with rival PPV service Home Premiere Television in 1988, and Viacom ceded control to the cable companies that owned HPT (Viacom still held a stake until the 1990s). In 1988, the company was renamed Showtime Networks Inc.
On March 1, 1994, a partnership between Showtime Networks and
Home Box Office, Inc. (parent of HBO and Cinemax) implemented a cooperative
content advisory system that was initially unveiled across Showtime, The Movie Channel and the HBO properties that would provide specific content information for pay-cable subscribers to determine the suitability of a program for children. The development of the system—inspired by the advisory ratings featured in Showtime and The Movie Channel's respective program guides and those distributed by other participating premium cable services—was in response to concerns from parents and advocacy groups about violent content on television, allowing the Showtime Networks and other services to assign individual ratings corresponding to the objectionable content depicted in specific programs (and categorized based on violence, profanity, sexuality or miscellaneous mature material). Labels are assigned to each program at the discretion of the participating service. A revised system—centered around ten content codes of two to three letters in length—was implemented across the Showtime Networks and Home Box Office services on June 10, 1994.
SNI, along with
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
,
Viacom Outdoor
Outfront Media, Inc. is one of the largest outdoor media companies. It operates in markets including the United States and Canada. The Americas division is led by chief executive officer Jeremy Male. Outfront Media operates both billboards and tr ...
,
Spelling Television
Spelling Television Inc. was an American television production company that went through several name changes. It was originally called Aaron Spelling Productions, then Spelling Entertainment Inc. and eventually part of Spelling Entertainment Gro ...
,
CBS Television Studios (formerly
CBS Productions,
Paramount Television and CBS Paramount Television),
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glo ...
(formerly Paramount Domestic Television, CBS Paramount Domestic Television and
KingWorld),
CBS Studios International (formerly CBS Paramount International Television),
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
and other entities became part of
CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and ...
when it officially split from Viacom on December 31, 2005. SNI managed
Robert Redford and
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
joint venture
Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to:
* Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States).
* Sundance Channel (Canada)
* Sundance Channel (Netherlands)
* Sundance Channel (Europe) Sundance Channel can refer to:
* Sundance TV, formerly kno ...
until 2008, when it was sold to Rainbow Media (now
AMC Networks), but it eventually
re-merged with
Viacom to transform into the new ViacomCBS in early December 2019, and later renamed
Paramount in 2022.
Cable networks currently owned by SNI
Year in parentheses denotes when each network and channel was brought into the SNI fold.
*
Showtime (1983)
+
** SHO2 (formerly SHOTOO) (1994)
** Showcase (formerly Showtime 3) (1996)
** Showtime Extreme (1998)
** SHO×BET (2020)
*
** Showtime Next (2001)
** Showtime Family Zone (2001)
** Showtime Women (2001)
*
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released ...
(1983)
+
** The Movie Channel Xtra (1999)
*
Flix (1992)
+Channel launched under Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment prior to 1983.
*Channel originally named Showtime Beyond from 1998 to 2020.
SNI won a
Peabody Award in 2002 for ''
Bang Bang You're Dead''.
62nd Annual Peabody Awards
May 2003. In 2008, SNI was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Best Use of Commercial Advertising on Personal Computer for the companion website to the series '' The L Word''.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Cable network groups in the United States
Paramount Media Networks
1983 establishments in New York City
American companies established in 1983
Companies based in Manhattan
Broadcasting companies of the United States
Entertainment companies based in New York City
Entertainment companies established in 1983
Entertainment companies of the United States
Mass media companies established in 1983
Mass media companies of the United States
Mass media companies based in New York City
1985 mergers and acquisitions
Multinational companies headquartered in the United States